The Decadence of Men: The Two Gates of Time
by sosoguillemot
Summary: They had killed her family. No, slaughtered. They had slain a Dragon. They had closed their eyes to the Truth. She had sworn revenge upon Midnight's dead body, as she had set on the dangerous quest to slay Fairy Tail. Blood and Darkness had shrouded her path. How fitting that a Light Dragon Slayer would help her see again. StingxOC, nice!MinervaxRogue
1. Chapter 1 The Awakening

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Sting who belongs to Hiro Mashima, nor anything that is not my OC, Rezef and her epic sword Vazeriel. Jack Frost and Audra Tempest are not mine either. The Armour belongs to the French (amazing) author, Pierre Bottero. However, I do own the idea of a spirit world. Any resemblance to any existing material other than those mentioned is purely fortuity and not intentional. **

The alliance team had won against the Oracion Seis and were currently partying with the Cait Shetler what they perceived as a good deed. They were having fun, dancing around as beer was flowing in rivers. The vestiges of the Nirvana were lying on the forest in the background, and the sun was slowly setting. Lucy was shouting at Natsu, trying to get him to give her her top back and Erza was trying to drown Jellal in a mug of alcohol. Wendy and Carla were smiling, joking with the trimen from Blue Pegasus whilst their leader was trying to gain Erza's attention. Grey and Leon were talking, whilst Sherry was making out with Ren, the only member of the trimen who was not trying to woo Wendy. Jera was standing behind his team, a proud smile on his features. Yes. Everything was perfect.

To them.

* * *

Rezef was coming back from destroying a dark guild. She was worried since her guild had not answered their lacrymas and she was flying at top speed to the mountains that she knew so well. Her family and her dwelt in a cave there, waiting for the right moment to act. She was impatient to meet them all again.

When Rezef noticed the giant stone structure that was sprawled all over the forest, a churning feeling gnawed at her stomach. What? Why? They had promised they would wait for her before awaking Nirvana. They knew perfectly well none of them would be able to control the dragon once they had started feeding it.

She forced her wings faster, and immediately her nose picked up a scent of burning. She swooped down from the heavens and found a patch of burnt trees in the middle of the forest. Letting her nose guide her, she landed in the middle of charred wood. The Elders had been blown up. Dread filled her. The only person she knew to handle explosives in her family was Racer. Looking around, fearing for her friends' lives, she stopped. A burnt corpse was at the epicentre of the explosion. As she neared the blackened body, she felt herself fill with fear. The corpse wore a jacket made of white and red leather. A racing jacket. She could also make out the remainders of a charred pair of racing goggles.

Racer.

She picked up scents from there on. Many different scents. Climbing up a little hill, she found more and more, which led her to a landslide. Hot-eye. She started running. Her steps brought her to the broken structure of the dragon. Climbing on its city like back, she smelt another scent she could not mistaken for anything else. The smell of poison. Running as if her life depended on it, she skidded to a halt in a little round opening. There laid both Cobra and his snake, dead.

"_no, no, NO!" she was a mess. Running like a maniac now, she searched in vain for a smell she could follow. She picked up Brain's. Her eyes widened. Brain's and Zero's. She entered the inner rooms of the Nirvana, making her way to the crystal Lacrymas whomever killed her family had to destroy in order to stop Nirvana. She found her 'father's' body beside one of them.

If even Zero had been defeated, what about Midnight? And Angel?

She took off the ground, her black wings soaring her through the air. Angel. She had to find Angel. Closing her eyes, she let the thoughts of the woman surround her. Soon enough, she felt a pull toward the right direction. Diving down to follow the path of a river, she caught a glimpse of white a little forward. Pressing her wings to go faster, she sped toward the floating corpse, hoping for a miracle. Angel disappeared from sight as she fell down the waterfall.

Without hesitation, Rezef flew after.

The water was rather cold and dragged her to the bottom of the pool. Rezef quickly caught sight of a pair of white wings and swam toward them. Her fingers grabbed white fabric, and her arms locked around the torso of a woman. Kicking the bottom to flow with the current underwater, knowing the strength of the waterfall would not allow them to swim straight up, Rezef surfaced again a few meters away. She dragged the unconscious woman to the shore and shook her.

"_wake."

Brown eyes shot open, as Angel chocked up the water she had swallowed. A look of relief crossed her face when she caught sight of her 'sister' and she let her body fall back to the ground.

"_ Fairy Tail..."

Her blood boiled. Fairy Tail had attacked her family. They had harmed her 'sister', killed her 'brothers'. She would get them back for this.

Wrapping her arms around the torso of the battered angel, she took off into the air to the cave where their belongings remained.

Rezef had left Angel at the cave to heal, whilst she went around trying to find Midnight. She hoped he had survived.

.

If there was a god above, he must have truly hated her that day.

.

Midnight had been killed. His white hair was mattered with dried blood, and flies had started attacking his body. His stomach displayed a horrible wound that made her body ache just looking at it, and she would not, could not let the people who did that go unpunished. Chasing the flies away from the body of her best friend, her 'brother', she clung to him.

"_Midnight..." tears slowly made their way down her face. "Midnight... you promised... you promised to be here because I was the only thing you had! Where are you! Come back!" she was sobbing, her shoulders aching and her own clothes tattered with blood. "Midnight..."

* * *

The earth split in half, the mountains opened, the seas parted when Rezef built four tombstones in the middle of the decays of the great dragon of balance, Nirvana.

* * *

You didn't need to be a doctor to be able to notice that Angel was sick. The woman did not utter a word and spent her days looking at the entrance of the cave, waiting for Cobra to come through. They had been dating before all this. Rezef closed her eyes, burying herself in the soft fur of Midnight's jacket. She had token his spare from the pack of clothes before tossing everything that belonged to the dead away. Angel had wanted to keep the little earrings Cobra had, which were a winged snake. Cuberios. Rezef could tell the woman ached. She didn't eat, barely talked and refused to sleep. The few times tiredness finally managed to win her over, the woman had woken up from a nightmare in which she saw Cobra shouting at her she had failed them.

Rezef didn't want to admit. Nevertheless, she also had them.

She carried with her the guilt of their deaths. Had she not lacked behind because she was tired, she would have been able to save them all. Had she not token this bloody mission, Cobra would still be there and Angel would be happy. It was all her fault.

No, not hers.

Fairy Tail's.

Rezef knew Fairy Tail was not the only guild to have made up the light team, but she mainly held a grudge against them, as they were the one to have killed her nakama. And the dragon. They had killed a dragon.

.

Rezef had gone hunting for food. Angel was eating a little again, but she knew the woman was not feeling any better. She was merely trying to get Rezef to leave the cave for a few hours. So she had left. She felt the heavy burden of Angel's decision in her heart. She could have stayed in the cave; she could have prevented her from doing this. But no. The woman had made her choice. She would go and be free with Cobra.

.

When Rezef came back to her cave, that night, Angel's body was slowly balancing down from the ceiling. She walked to the dead corpse, cut the rope and brought the woman's body to the clearing.

She turned back as she left. One last glance. Cobra's tomb had been opened, and Angel now laid in there as well, beside her love and his snake. Tears pooled in her eyes. She would not cry. Putting her hood up, she strode away.

* * *

Nox, the nightwalker had just begun her chase.

* * *

The earth swallowed the clearing with the four tombs, as a little hill was formed. Grass covered the brown earth, and flowers blossomed as if this cold December was summer. A blank stone overlooked the clearing, standing proudly at the top of the hill.

* * *

She had spent days and days thinking. What was she going to become, now that her guild was dead? Would she carry on the task they had born or would she fade into the shadows, going back where she belongs?

The second option was taunting, inviting. It laid in her mind, springing to the front of her thoughts every time she regretted her choice. Leaving would have been easier.

Yeah, but since when did she chose the easy path?


	2. Chapter 2 Tenrou

Rezef now wore a black cloak. The hood could be drawn up during the time Nox chased whilst her Armour's spirit, Venia had found a home in the think woollen fabric. She had stolen the cloak from a dark guild she had come across, considering she did not have any jewels to trade. Once Venia had invaded her new home, a symbol had appeared on the back of the cloak; a 12. If you looked into it, it appeared very alike to the symbol of the Oracion Seis.

Rezef barely shed her cloak anymore, as she always used it to hide her identity. There is no need for any survivors to start a manhunt on her. Or woman-hunt for that matter. Nox was reaching her third black guild of the week, one that used to be under the orders of the Oracion Seis. She heard shouts and drunken laughter before she could even see the guild, and wrinkled her nose. Those parties made her sick. Men would often take women from the towns they ransacked to have some 'fun' with them, or simply enjoy a little torture. She often found herself with half clad sobbing women once her mission was finished and severely scarred men. She even once had to deal with mages who had been imprisoned and tortured.

She neared the 'Naked Mummies' by the back. Blending into the shadows with her cloak, she looked by a high up window. The room was filled with men who were drinking, partying and sharing the money of some ransom. A poor girl was attached in the middle of the guild to a chair as men surrounding her took appraising looks at her generous figure. Nox shook her head.

Aching for a good fight, she drew a blade from thin air and entered the guild through the front door.

.

There were no other words to describe what the blond girl saw. Slaughter.

The men had not stood a chance.

.

At first, she had thought the hooded person was another member of the guild, their chief even. She soon found out she was wrong when the sober half of the guild turned to the door and froze. The hooded mage lifter his sword and most of the mages present turned on their heels and ran for dear life. After a self-confident smirk, the hooded creature vanished from sight.

Blood spurted from her right as a man fell to the floor, his head severed. Another one was gutted.

He left none alive.

* * *

In less than five minutes, the 'Naked Mummies' were annihilated. Blood had marred the once white walls, and limbs were carelessly thrown onto the floor. A head rolled to her feet as silence took over the guild. The hooded mage then strode toward her. Her saviour's boots hardly made any noise on the floor, and the form bent behind her back. Soon enough, both her hands and feet were free. She stood shakily up, tearing the duck tape away from her lips. The person was already at the door. She limped to her freedom and as soon as she had passed the gateway, the building of the guild went up in ashes.

The rescuers from her village found the woman in the grass, seemingly suffering from posttraumatic shock as she stared at the embers of the fire that consumed what once was her prison. Blood was splattered on her face but she did not seem to be aware of it.

"_one person" she whispered. "All it took was one person"

* * *

Nox searched in her mind. Soon enough, a map of all the locations of her targets popped to the front of her thoughts. Smirking, she pushed it to the side again.

Seems like Hades, or should she say Precht, had left something for her to toy with nearby.

When Nox reached the village of Tenebris, she knew she had come to her destination. The pull of the darkness was very strong there. Too strong. Because of this, crops had died and people had turned violent. Animals had suffered from inexplicable illnesses and soon enough, water had turned black. Now a day, what was left of the village was a few ruined houses that seemed to exude a dark aura. She took a step inside the circle of the village.

She could sense the aura of five beasts. Demons. They did not dare attack her, for they knew who she was but as she neared the hiding place of the book, they unwillingly stood in front of her.

"_loyal to a fault, I see."

"_master Hades has us enslaved, we cannot not be loyal."

"_let me free you. Die." The force of the order struck down the beast that was in front of her like a fly. His knees gave way as his horned head fell against his torso. He fell face down into the dirt before vanishing into black smoke.

The other four followed.

Nox was rather weary of the village. She doubted Hades had merely put five demons to guide the book. Carefully stepping onto the main plaza, she neared the water fountain in the middle. The fountain's water came out of the earth black. Frowning, she dusted away the stone basin and was rewarded with small, carved runes appearing before her eyes. A curse.

Runes were one of her favourite type of magic. Partly because it was like a great enigma for her to solve and that the rules of spell casting using runes was very strict. The key had to be within the spell. Therefore, reading the runes, Nox's mind was racing for the answer. It could be a matter of letters that had to be rearranged, words that held different meanings or connotations that gave a clue. Of course, the runic sentence itself could be a riddle, in which case the form was straightforward but not the answer. She was faced with one of the hardest; a mixture of them all.

She had set camp near the water and had a small fire starting by the time her brain worked out the answer. She felt like an idiot. The answer was to drink from the spring! Of course, it made sense. As the water was tainted, no one would ever dare to which made it the best key ever. Grabbing the onyx bowl that had been placed on the edge of the fountain, she gathered enough water for a drink and swallowed it. The black water tasted like wine. Bitter and sweet at the same time. Hot and cold. She closed her eyes.

Hades had not been foolish with his hiding. He had done it as a master would. Taking the book in a parallel dimension he had created in his mind and sealing it through a water fountain was one of the most ingenious ways she had ever seen. The parallel world she was in was not very welcoming, with its threatening jungle and hot weather. Almost as soon as she had entered the place, she had gotten rid of her cloak and Rezef was now standing eyes closed in the middle of a small clearing. Setting into the forest, she trekked through the looming trees, letting her instinct lead her to the source of all the Darkness.

A book was lying on a stone table. There was no rune trap, no monster to guard it this time, which did not surprise Rezef. It must have token a lot out of Hades to create this. Grabbing the leather bound tome, she held it close to her chest and let her mind re-integer her body.

When she opened her eyes, the book was lying on her chest. The water had turned back to normal and her hood was up again. Nox could not sense the oppressing aura anymore as she looked around. Her gaze finally settled back onto to relic she held in her hands. Grabbing Vazeriel, her sword, she stabbed it one. Twice. Black light erupted from the book as a scream was heard. It burst ablaze from its own magic before exploding. The free magic in the air oscillated a little before it burst into a firework of colours and fell back to the earth. Grass sprouted from the dead ground, flowers blossomed as an old willow tree came out of the ground beside the fountain. Birds chirped not far off, and she saw a deer and its child at the edge of the forest. Turning around, she saw the magic unearth dead bodies from the ground and slowly bring them back to life.

All the life the black magic had drained was being given back.

* * *

Nox wasn't really sure when people had started calling that symbol on her back her guild mark, or even when people had named it, but she didn't really mind. The name suited her fine. Midnight Fear. She had popped into a boy's mind once to understand where the name had come from and was surprised to see that people had named her than because Midnight was the hour that proceeded the darkest hour of the night, which personalised well what the roles of dark guilds was; to prepare to world to chaos. They had chose Fear, because dark guilds had come to fear her. The idea, she had found, was silly but the words stuck and soon enough, she was known throughout all Fiore as the only member of Midnight Fear, the dark guild that takes down dark guilds.

* * *

It was a bit less than a year since Fairy Tail had slaughtered her family. A year she had spent training and gathering information on the guild, and now had come the time to strike. She had the perfect opportunity for it in the shape of the S-class exam. She had first heard of this ritual whilst in a bar. The two women behind her were talking about a certain Laxus being kicked out of Fairy Tail and that he was an S-class mage. What had really interested her was that the strongest mages of Fairy Tail were selected each year to fight to become an S-class mage and that the exam happened on the guild's island, quite far away from any land. Paying for her consummation, she left the bar to go back into the forest.

She expected at least the team that had been sent as part of the light Team to be in the exam.

.

Nox spent the following month preceding the exam training herself. She needed to regain the mobility she was used to when under her other forms and this exam was the best place to use one of them. Even if the fairies were stronger on their own islands, she didn't mind. If she didn't get them now, she would get them all later.

.

Finally, the day she had been waiting for arrived. She woke up in the morning, strangely calm. Her body felt relaxed and she had the aura of someone who is at peace with themselves. Closing her eyes, she felt the pure magic she was made of soaring through her veins, filling her every cell as wings appeared in her back. Taking off from the ground, Nox shot into the air like a bullet, flying above the skies to the sea and beyond.

From above the cloud, Nox could see the island of Tenrou. She could make out each person and laughed at seeing them fighting against one another. It seems that Grimier Heart and the Magic Council had had the same idea as her... she saw Hades' ship explode, as the Tenrou tree regained its footing. A spark of thought appeared in her mind. Had she not destroyed that book Hades had created, would he have died? She shook her head from side to side, as if to drive the question away. It did not matter. She would have killed Hades anyway.

Closing her eyes, Nox let her shape change. Where once stood a woman, now was a black dragon soaring through the skies.

Acnologia, Dragon of the Apocalypse.

* * *

The Fairy Sphere. That god damned spell had kept her trapped seven years in a blissful sleep. In hibernation. And all of that due to that First Master of Fairy Tail, Mavis Vermillion. She should have shot the woman long ago. She was currently having a staring contest with that pathetic excuse of a woman whilst the boat with her prays was sailing away.

"_Mavis..." she hissed through gritted teeth.

"_do I know you?"

"_oh, I bet you don't. But I know you. You and your pathetic little fairies."

"_oh. You don't seem to like us very much. Why?" fake tears poured from her eyes.

"_four of your fairies killed my family."

"_oh." The tears were gone, fake act forgotten. "I am sorry."

"_sorry won't fix it Mavis. Sorry won't even begin to mend it!"

"_hate and revenge won't either."

"_that's what you think. I warn you, Mavis; I give you a month. Hide, run away do whatever you want. But if after a month I find you and your fairies, I will not spare the one who hurt my nakama."

The hooded person turned on her heels. Without bothering with a goodbye or a wave, she strode toward the sea. Mavis watched her go, until she could not be seen anymore. Her back turned away from her as she walked on the water to the horizon.


	3. Chapter 3 Are those Humans!

Nox could not believe it. Dark guilds were even worse than weeds. They spurted from the ground like mushrooms. Seven years had been enough to undo her own work, even if there were almost no relics anymore. At least, thought the woman, these dark guilds are weak.

They say that old habits die hard, I guess this is true. Soon enough, the hooded form that was seven years' ago Midnight Fear's master and unique member was slaughtering again.

She started off with the Twilight Ogre. They were a dark guild that had been causing trouble to the people all over the country and often ransacked towns and villages. Nox started there.

After seven years of slumber, her powers were at their highest again. Her agility had increased thanks to the training she had put upon herself during the months preceding the S-class exam and the guild did not pose as much of a threat. After all, who could compete with a dragon out for revenge?

Nox licked her sword clean. She loved the smell of blood and the metallic taste of the liquid upon her weapons often was enough to put her in a good mood. Around her, headless corpses were thrown carelessly on the ground. Heads were rolling and limbs had been torn apart. Blood had spattered the walls in gigantic arcs of crimson and the woman took the time to take in the beautiful sight. She stepped outside and set the building ablaze.

The most beautiful things had to be ephemeral to stay beautiful.

.

She was gazing at the high flames licking the remainders of the walls that had long crumbled down when she heard noise. A team of wizards. Not wanting to talk, and still feeling the xenophobia against those who shunned her and forsook her in the past, Nox vanished into the shadows of the forest without a sound. The only thing that was left behind was her trail of destruction.

* * *

She couldn't put a name on the two people standing in front of her. Her brow creased under her hood, and she thought hard. What would two creatures like these ones do in the woods anyway? She peeked again from between the leaves of a bush, and looked in detail at the animals in front of her. They stood on their two rear feet and wore clothes. She was pretty positive she had seen some of that kind before but their smells were different. They smelt like dragons.

The snap of a twig pulled the woman out of her reverie.

"_hello there, girly."

If Nox could have jumped, she most surely would have. Her nonexistent heartbeat sped up, as she slowly turned around. A blond was standing behind her. His hair was tousled from the forest, and his abs were being shown off by his cut off turtle neck.

Nox's finger probed his arm.

"_Holy Shit!" she shouted, this time almost stepping back. "It's moving!" she carefully poked the arm and recoiled quickly, waiting to see if it was going to move. Her eyes were opened wide under her hood.

This was the first time in what felt like millennia since she had seen a man.

Or any human being for that matter.

The person she had been touching growled, making the cloaked figure stand up to her full height. Just below his nose...

"_Oi, I am no 'it'"

"_by Apopis! It is SPEAKING!"

Fluttering like a fairy around the man, Nox probed, pinched and slapped the flesh exposed, trying to get a reaction out of him.

"_do you think it is alive?" she asked to no one in particular. "Most likely. I didn't kill it. Yeah, but it s not moving! Did I kill it by accident? Oh my god! Did I do it again? Oi Blondie is anyone in there?" seeing no response from a seemingly shocked dragon slayer, she turned around.

"_Oh! There is another one! Do you think it is alive as well?" slowly making her way toward the second figure, Nox seized him up. "Funny, it smells the same. What do you think they are? Could they be? No! Could it be a human?!"

Both guys face palmed.

.

Nox cocked her head to the side. After a moment of reflexion during which she intently stared at the two little cats accompanying the humans, she turned around and started walking away.

"_for what I care... humans are deceivers."

Both dragon slayers watched the hooded figure walk away from them with total incomprehension. What was that?!

They shared a disbelieving look, and suddenly the black haired dragon-smelling human said to his friend:

"_that was... funny?"

"_do you think she actually meant it?"

"_what are you talking about?"

"_when she didn't know we were humans."

"_I don't know, but we have a job waiting for us so I would suggest getting a move on."

"_yeah yeah, coming."

* * *

Nox was not on a tight schedule to kick arses, since she had been at it for now two weeks and had started clearing things up nicely, and she took her time to reach the next dark guild she was about to bring down: Black Death.

They were situated in the middle of the forest, much like any other black guild. These mages had the reputation of being merciless killers who ransomed towns and even once or twice tried attacking members from official guilds. Recently, they had ganged up on a girl from Sabertooth and had killed her after raping her. This was partly why Nox has chosen this guild to be her next target. She neared the building at the late hours of the night, enjoying having the shadows as her companions in battles. As she passed the doorstep, she was greeted with a huge fight. Two men seemed to be kicking arses in there and having a really good time. Nox was content with just letting them to do the job, since she supposed they were from the guild the girl came from, and was about to turn around when a scream was heard.

"_MIDNIGHT FEAR!"

Then, it was chaos. Black mages turned around, trying to escape through windows and burning holes in the grounds just to get away from her.

"_quiet." Everyone froze. The two men from earlier turned to her in wonder as she neared a man.

"_am I scary?"

He nodded.

"_wrong answer." His head rolled to the floor.

"_hey!" she turned to the blond one of the duo who had called her. "He was mine!" she laughed heartily.

"_apologies, human. Here, have the rest."

.

Nox was sitting on the bar counter, watching the two men-that-smelt-like-dragons fight. She enjoyed their techniques, which were dragon-like and suddenly her mind put the puzzle pieces together. These were dragon slayers! Men who had been brought up by dragons. It explained their appearance and odour. Satisfied with her reasoning, Nox sat back and enjoyed the show.

.

The dragon slayers were finishing up the last mages when Nox poured two more glasses of alcohol. She set the down on the counter next to where she was sitting and filled her own glass up.

.

"_come on, guys. Tell me what you are doing here." The blond dragon slayer was about to retort something rude when the black haired one pulled his arm and dragged him along. Out of nowhere came to little flying cats, which Nox recognised as Exceeds and they sat on the counter top, in front of their respective dragon slayers.

"_Frosch thinks Rogue was very good." The black haired dragon slayer blushed a bit at the cuteness of his companion and patted her head.

"_thanks, Frosch."

"_of course, Sting-kun was the best!" said the brown Exceed to Frosch.

"_hahahaha, thank you Lector!" said the blond. He patted the Exceed's head and Nox's voice rose in the room.

"_I like your frog outfit, Frosch."

"_oh, really?! Frosch likes it too!" said the little cat, flying to the hooded woman. She landed on her laps and Nox did her best to pat the Exceed without putting too much strength into it. She was used to killing and fighting, not cute little fur balls. Rogue, sensing her unease and having already taken a liking to her since she spoke nicely to his Exceed said;

"_what is your name?"

"_for the moment, Nox. I seemed to understand that you guys are Rogue and Sting. And that the Exceed here is Lector. Are you from that girl's guild?"

"_yeah. That's why the master sent us here. No one messes with Sabertooth's name." Replied the blond one.

"_name or nakama?" asked Nox. There was a silence.

"_I would like to say nakama" carried on Rogue, "but I fear Sting has it right. No one messes with Sabertooth's name."

"_that's... sad. And pathetic." Her words were harsh and cold, but Rogue did not take offence. He agreed with the woman.

"_it might be, but is it the strongest guild in all Fiore. And that is something" replied Sting. Nox shook her head.

"_hardly the strongest. But no, being number one is nothing. Power isn't happiness. Number one won't make you happy. On the contrary, it will slowly consume you and drive you to madness." Look at me, she thought bitterly. After a while of silence, Nox started again; "however, nakamas make you happy. Because even when they die, they are still with you and are still what drives you forward. Nakamas are worth all the number ones of the world. They are the real strength behind magic. Trust and friendship."

"_that's bullshit. Who needs nakama who are weak? They will only drag you down. They will be your weakness." Rogue shook his head from side to side.

"_so, Lector and Frosch don't matter?" her voice was cold, full of malice and bite.

"_no, I never said that! Lector is like family to me! I would never replace him!"

She smiled.

"_see, nakamas. You would fight for Lector. You would fucking get right back up even if it meant to be token down again. That's what nakamas are. And that is why you cannot be the strongest guild in Fiore, tigers. Because there is no love."

Nox jumped down the counter top. She stretched, and felt a hand on her biceps. More like a paw.

"_Frosch likes you. Frosch wants you to stay." She chuckled.

"_you are definitely too cute for my own good."

And she took a sit on a stool beside Sting.


	4. Chapter 4 Getting to Know You

"_remind me why you are here again?" asked Sting for the hundredth time.

"_who? Me?" replied Nox. "Bah, I am here coz I don't have anywhere else to be and it gets lonely sometimes. Even if I do like some quiet."

"_are you sure it is not like you want to get some money from the attack?"

"_money is the last of my worries, don't fret! You are the first two humans I have a conversation with, that is not one-sided I mean, in something like eight years. So I have absolutely no use for jewels."

"_eight years?! No wonder you couldn't recognize Rogue and I! We are pretty famous though."

She shrugged.

"_why were you alone so long?" asked Rogue.

"_I was on that wretched island with those... fairies." She spat the word like poison. "Had a round to fix with them but I didn't get the chance to kick their arses. Fucking first master got in the way. Then I spent a year just tidying up loose ends I had left behind. I didn't really expect to leave for so long."

"_you don't seem to like them."

"_they killed my family."

The two dragon slayers stopped in their tracks.

"_they what?!"

"_I thought Fairy Tail was one of the few guilds that did not execute their opponents."

"_they executed these ones. Oh, we have arrived!"

She was right, the trees had suddenly given way to a clearing and a city could be seen in the distance. Nox looked up to the sky. It was around seven in the morning.

She let Rogue drag them to the town hall. Apparently, Sting had an awful sense of direction.

.

The mayor had been, in her opinion, very generous. He had given the two dragon slayers enough money to last her a lifetime, but she quickly understood that in this world, money did not stay long in the hands of one person.

They were currently sitting in the booth of a restaurant, Nox having been invited by Rogue since Sting was too busy wondering with what awesome food he was going to stuff his face. She hadn't ordered anything and her simply watched with disgust the guys drown mountains of food. She could not understand how they managed to keep all that down. Finally, once Rogue had finished his titanic meal he asked her a few questions:

"_where are you going to go now?"

"_most probably Oshibawa, there is a relic around there I need to destroy. Maybe I'll go to the forest after that, to rest a bit. And then I'll just carry on until I cross paths with Fairy Tail again and kick their arses once and for all."

"_Oshibawa? That's not a friendly place. It was where the book of chaos was before being moved to wherever."

"_Tenebris."

"_huh?"

"_Tenebris was the name of the village the book was transferred to."

"_how do you... oh right." She sent a crooked smile his way as Sting finally finished with the food.

"_so basically, you don't have any plans?"

"_hey! That Stings..." she said, pouting. Rogue laughed.

"_nice one."

"_I like it as well." Sting's fist balled and fake punched her as she replied to his friend. She arched an eyebrow at him.

"_bring it on matee. Bring it on."

.

Nox had dragged Sting and Rogue into the forest, arguing that if they were going to do damages, then it would be best not to have to pay for the reparations. Seeing the logic behind it all, Sting and Rogue had brought her to where they had set up camp the night before. Sting got ready to battle, whilst Nox merely formed her trusted sword out of the air surrounding them. Vazeriel. She was a beauty in the eyes of her holder. The sword was black, made of mythril. The handle was made of onyx and the blood of her victims had polished the blade to a point where it reflected the light of the moon. The whole sword was a deadly weapon, from the platinum hard handle, to the razor edged blade. That weapon was deadly. It was not ostentatious like Titania's swords were, nor was it a basic weapon. It was a deadly weapon for a night assassin.

Because that was what she was.

Nox had not meant to keep Vazeriel. The sword was a dark relic created by a wizard long ago and could only be wielded by one person of its choice. The wizard had made the blade in an attempt to unify the dark guilds together, a bit like the legend of Excalibur. Chaos had ensued when none could raise the sword, and it had lain forgotten in the darkest forest of Fiore, Mirkvyd. Nox had gone there to destroy the black stone that casted a whole shadow over the forest and had ended up drawing Vazeriel from the stone. The boulder had shattered, broken into pieces that soon vanished into the air alongside the ever-present darkness in the undergrowth. Nox was about to draw the magical power away from the sword when she held it in her hand. The sword fit there like an extension of her arm and she felt whole. Shaking away the feeling she did not like, Nox had put Vazeriel down and immediately felt the loss of the weight of her sword in her hand. She had stood there, dumbstruck, wondering what to do. The forest around her had lost its darkness, and she felt the urge to keep the sword with her. With a heartless chuckle, she had kept the sword. She had never regretted it.

Vazeriel had been with her ever since and was to the woman her most trusted weapon as Vazeriel and her had such a bond she felt as if the sword was part of her body. Vazeriel and her were one, and it went fine by both.

Sting was watching the hooded person intently. She had drawn a sword out of thin air, which would not have impressed him had that sword not emitted the aura it did. It felt like the sword in itself was alive. He saw Nox as she had called herself drag her finger down the edge of the sword with such care he suddenly doubted he had made a wise choice by provoking her to a duel. Rogue gave the signal of the start and Sting attacked.

The dragon roar he had started with drilled its way toward Nox and the woman stared at it with utter and complete boredom. Raising Vazeriel, she sliced clean through his magic. Sting stared, dumbstruck. That she could avoid his attack was not something extremely rare, but that she could slice through his dragon slayer magic as if it was nothing was not something he expected. He readied himself for another attack when he felt the cool touch of metal under his neck.

"_seems like I won."

.

"_when do you plan on leaving for Oshibawa?" asked the light dragon slayer. To his friend's relieved surprise, he had token his defeat rather well and him and Nox were now getting to know one another, which greatly surprised his Exceed.

"_in all honesty, I am not quite sure. Oshibawa isn't a pressing matter, and even if it was other guilds could take care of it as well."

"_I guess so, but they would need to create and alliance, which would take ages whilst you could just barge in a kill everyone."

"_are you flattering me?" asked a laughing Nox.

"_maybe..." all five of them laughed, glad the tension that had come after the fight was finally eased.

After a while, Nox got her calm back and said, more serious.

"_to be frank, being alone is, as much as I love it, sometimes a huge pain. Sure I get to move at my own pace and I can do my shit, but when the night comes and you are alone, there is no need of a monster to be afraid of the darkness of your own minds."

Rogue looked at her. Her eyes were forlorn and she was looking into the fire though she gave him the impression she was looking past the flames. Into the embers of her own heart. Into the flames of her own hell. Her hatred.

"_Frosch wants to go with Nox. Frosch thinks Nox is very nice." And his Exceed seemed to have thought the same. Rogue grabbed the little cat.

"_do you, now?" he asked softly smiling at the frog costume. She nodded. He gave her a soft hug as Sting just shrugged.

"_I don't mind, Nox seems strong enough to be good to Sting." Added Lector.

"_would you mind if we joined you?" asked Rogue.

"_I would be glad for some company." She replied with a soft smile.


	5. Chapter 5 The Creation

Oshibawa was three day's walk away from where they were currently. She had thought about taking the train, but crossed that idea away quickly. She might be travelling with two half humans, it did not mean she wanted to be surrounded by them. She closed her eyes, consulting the map she had seen a few days back. They were currently travelling North West, taking it from the stars above her head and Nox could smell the scent of running water. If they carried on like this for another day, they would reach a river. After one day's march following the river, they would go westward and find the town of Oshibawa. She turned around to the dragon slayers carrying sleeping Exceeds.

"_do you want to set camp for the night?"

Both nodded and fell to the ground, tired like hell. Nox went a little away to find some firewood and brought it back to the little camp they had set up. She lit it up and sat on the grass beside Rogue.

"_if we carry on in this direction for a day, we will reach the river. We should be in Oshibawa at dusk in three days' time."

He nodded. Nox grabbed a bow that materialized out of the thin air and a pouch of arrows appeared on her back.

"_I'll be right back. What do you fancy for dinner? Rabbit?"

"_sounds good." Replied Rogue as Sting just nodded, busy setting up the tent whilst his friend was holding the Exceeds.

She vanished into the darkness.

.

Nox came back that night with about eight rabbits on her pouch. She had a cut in her palm that was slightly bleeding but it seemed to have been made by a sword. Sting frowned.

"_what happened to your hand?"

"_nothing big, just the usual giving of thanks."

"_the what?" she turned to them, a bit shocked.

"_do you not give thanks to the earth for its food?"

Both looked at them, dumbstruck. She sat by the fire, skinned the rabbits and put them onto a spit to cook. She then started her story.

"_I thought your dragons would have told you of the creation of the world... first came the spirit of Time, born of the Original Chaos. Then, as Time was looking upon the void that Chaos was, she decided to create something to be in it for the space had much potential. She torn from her robe a long strip of fabric and split it again in half. The first one was cold as ice, whereas the second was a pure flame of brightness. She set them at the two opposite of the Chaos and waited for each to meet at the middle of the void. As the two breaths mingled and mixed in the middle of the Chaos, something came out of it. A surface of hard material. Something that spun and spun and spun until its final shape was given to it; a sphere. Then, the first spirit of Time looked upon the bare flesh of the earth and blew upon it. As time accelerated, grass sprouted from the clay and water was given from the earth. Rivers formed and oceans appeared. But, for the entire world was asleep, the first being of Time was alone. Then, taking the fire, she stole a flame and set it into the sky. From the ice, she stole a spark and set it at the opposite, so that the earth spun around the sun and the moon around the earth. The first spirit of Time looked upon the earth and watched with wonder as the flowers fanned, the rivers dried out before blossoming and gurgling back to life again. The first spirit of time then took upon herself to create two other spirits, one of cold and one of the warmth. She started with a spirit of cold, made out of ice. Jack Frost. He was a handsome boy with pristine white hair and wonderful blue eyes. Smiling softly, the first sprit of Time created a woman, his opposite, with dark hair and golden eyes like a molten flame. Both fell irrevocably in love, despite them being opposites. However, tempers flared between the two and soon, the first being of Time created two mediators, Rose Bark, spirit of Spring and Audra Tempest, spirit of Autumn. Rose had blond hair and sparkling green eyes, whilst Audra had red hair, a scarlet colour and beautiful brown eyes. The four of them became the spirits of Seasons. Jack Frost, Summer Heath, Rose Bark and Audra Tempest. The four of them dwelt upon the earth, happy and in synchronisation with the spirit of Time when she called them all, saying that they needed to create life. All four of them created the body of a man and a woman, and the spirit of Time, agreeing to what she saw gave them life. Next, came the animals. The animals were made after the humans, for they were stronger, faster, more in touch with their true nature. Seeing that the humans were beginning to be hunted and killed, the spirits gave them powers to defend themselves.

Humans overtook the animals, killed the earth and bled it to the death. In the end, the spirit of Time had to strike them all down.

Then, came the task of rebuilding the world. Humans were made last, and powers was given to some only. The mages. For years upon years, they lived happily and aware of the influence of spirits on their lives. With the developing of human, new spirits were born, such as the spirits of art and music. These spirits had under their command beasts such as dragons and gods. This is when the humans forsook their knowledge of spirits and instead turned to their quest of power. As a punishment, the first spirit of Time made them blind to the wisdom of truth and let them to fend for themselves into the chaos and death they had created."

Rogue and Sting were listening intently to the tale being narrated to them. Their dragons had in the past told them such tales but theirs was more faded, as if they were saying something they had not witnessed. Nox mentioned it as if she had been there, spectator recalling the greatest burden of humanity.

"_this," she carried on "is known amongst the spirits as the Decadence of Men." Nox remained quiet for a little while, her words hanging in the air. She turned away from the fire. "It would be wise to sleep now. Tomorrow will be a long journey."

And they left the hooded woman by the fire, staring into the golden embers of her memory.


	6. Chapter 6 Rezef

Murmurs woke Sting and Rogue up. The two dragon slayers had been travelling with the woman for some time now and had yet to see her face. They were currently on the outskirts of the town of Macias. It was a month away from Crocus, where Sabertooth was located and their final destination. As they quietly rose from their sleeping bags, both dragon slayers tried to understand the words Nox seemed to be sharing with a hooded man and woman.

"_Jack! What are you doing here?"

"_we came to see how you were doing, Rez. You have been gone for a long time."

"_yes! And you didn't even write to us."

"_geez, you guys could sound like you are worrying."

"_what happened, Rez?"

"_what are you talking about?"

"_everyone is talking about a hooded woman part of a dark guild that is slaughtering dark mages. What is happening?! Why are you doing this?! You were meant to only walk amongst the Men to make them see reason. Not kill everyone!" the woman had cut into their conversation for the second time, and 'Rez' felt her blood boil.

"_are you two doubting me?" the voice was cold. Deadly.

"_no we are not. All Summer is trying to say is that we are worried."

Summer? Jack? Thought the slayers. That sounds familiar... Did Nox know them?

"_go away. I have other things to do. Next time, send Audra my way. We get along best."

"_no wonder, you both have the same attitude."

The hood of the cloak shot toward the hidden woman.

"_I would suggest leaving now. Unless you want me to take some measures as to what realms you control or not..."

The menace was clear. Crystal clear. The couple disappeared into the night.

"_I hope we hear from you soon, Rezef."

She waved in a careless manner.

"_come back when you are not doubting me anymore."

.

The night was silent, and Nox relaxed into the welcoming darkness. She closed her tired eyes, and smiled when the sound of breathing came to her ears.

"_you can come out now, Sting, Rogue."

Both dragon slayers opened the flap of the tent and squeezed through.

"_so, who was that?" risked Sting.

"_Jack Frost and Summer Heath. You remember them?"

"_the names ring a bell. You might have mentioned them once or twice in the past."

"_yes Rogue. Two months ago. When we first met."

Light dawned on Sting's face.

"_the spirit chicks."

She nodded, chuckling.

"_yes, the spirits. Though you might want to refrain from calling them chicks. Jack could take offence."

"_how do you know them?"

"_I didn't tell you the whole story about them. But as time passed, men grew so powerful they became a threat to dragons. The dragons were called back to their world but some stayed behind to train humans. When the spirit of Time saw what the dragons had done, she felt sympathy for them and joined them onto the earth."

"_you mean... that the first spirit of time walked among us?"

"_yeah."

"_that's... epic!"

"_I know, right?"

"_oh, what should we call you, by the way? Because your two friends there seemed to know you by another name."

"_oh yeah, Nox isn't my birth name. It's Rezef. Rez for the friends. And I am counting you in."

She pulled her hood back.

Black hair with silver roots cascaded down her shoulders, as her black and silver eyes appeared in the moonlight. Her skin was white, and her lips were purple. Like death.

"_I didn't imagine you like that." Said Rogue.

She smiled a little, before saying.

"_I would be grateful if you guys could call me Nox when the hood is up, though. Wouldn't want people to be able to track me down."


	7. Chap 7 Goodbyes make meeting you Sweeter

They were one day away from Sabertooth. Nox's heart was squeezing a little with every steps she took and she was dreading being alone again. As much as Sting could be annoyingly loud, and Rogue sarcastically cryptic, she loved them dearly. Like brothers. The two Exceeds had also found a place in her heart, and Lector had surprisingly token a liking to her. She would often sit by the fire at night with the two Exceeds asleep on her laps, especially ever since they had started recognizing the forests around their guild. Often, she would catch looks Sting and Rogue threw her way. She saw sadness in them.

Nox did not like goodbyes. They were annoying and often pathetic. However, she knew they deserved one and she could not simply leave in the night, as she would have normally done. They did deserve better. Grinding her teeth, she sat down for the last night with them.

Rogue and Sting were telling her tales about Sabertooth when they mentioned an even that happened a year ago; the Grand Magic Games. Immediately, her attention perked up as they explained the purpose of the thing.

"_so... you guys compete every year?"

"_yeah. And so far, we have won for seven years. We are the Number One Guild in Fiore."

"_and you are competing this year?"

"_yes, of course. Why?"

"_nah, no reason." There was one though. She was going to sign her guild up for it. She was going to have a laugh this year. A smirked appeared on her lips.

"_that smile give me the creeps, Rez." Warned Rogue as Frosch and Lector flew from the shoulder of their respective dragon's to Rez's lap.

"_now, why would you say that?" all three of them burst into fits of laughter, as the fire merrily dance in front of them.

Yes, this was their last night together and yes, she was sad to leave them but it did not mean she couldn't enjoy herself so far.

Frosch was bawling her eyes out, as she clung to Rez's cloak. The woman awkwardly patted the little Exceeds back, as she drew her hood up.

"_when do you guys want me to say goodbye?" that was a hard question. They would gladly keep her longer, but if they started crying in front of Sabertooth, it would be embarrassing. Seeing the silence, she made her decision.

"_let's say goodbye now, and I'll walk you there, okay?"

She was immediately engulfed in a group hug. She snaked her arms around her friends, and patted their backs. Sting was unusually quiet, whilst Rogue was trying to keep the tears in his eyes from rolling down his cheeks. She gave them each a separate hug then took two small bells from her backpack.

"_these are very easy to use. The one on a white chain is to call me. Don't you dare hesitate to use it!" She gave that one to Sting with a warning look. "And the one on a black ribbon is to call you, Rogue. Give it to that woman."

He turned crimson.

"_what, huh... what woman?" he stammered. Sting and she shared a look before laughing. He shook his head to the side, and took his earring off.

"_don't you dare forget us." he said, handing it over. She took it and put it on her own ear.

"_don't YOU dare forget me." With a peck of each of their cheeks, she picked Frosch up in her arms whilst Lector flew on the top of her head, lying down on the comfortable hood. The twin dragon slayers shouldered their backpack and each on one of her sides they started walking to Crocus.

.

The second goodbyes had been much colder than the first, exception made of Frosch who was still clinging to her hood whilst Lector was trying to hide his face in Sting's hair. Both dragon slayers had a poker face on, but she could see past it easily and knew they were sad. They had said their goodbyes in front of the guild's building before each of them gave her a quick, one-armed hug. She smiled slightly before pulling the Exceed away from her and handing her over to Rogue. With a wave of her hand, she turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

Sting and Rogue stood there for some time, trying to drill into their minds that they were now back to four, and not five. Inhaling sharply, they turned their back on the crown that had swallowed their friend and stepped into the guild building.

The hooded figure came out of the forest under the moonlight. She quickly made her way through the deserted streets before reaching the amphitheatre. The huge stone building looked gloomy at night, but this did not stop the figure in any way. She swiftly walked into the shadow, disappearing completely into darkness.

Asoka was tidying up her desk, when a hooded figure materialised in a corner. She was about to scream when a gloved hand covered her mouth. Her eyes wide, she saw the figure loom over her.

"_don 't worry. I simply want to join the GMG."

The shaking woman designated with a trembling finger a formulary on her desk. The gloved hand grabbed it and looked at it intently. She freed her mouth, before waving her now free hand in front of it. Typed letters appeared to fill the gaps on the sheet and the guild stamp materialised at the bottom of the page. The hooded figure then dropped the letter onto the desk and turned to her.

"_I seemed to understand the GMG organization will book hotels for us?"

She could only nod, not trusting herself to speak. Nox sent a short nod.

"_I will be waiting."

.

When Matamuto came in the following morning, he found his colleague on the floor, still shaking from her meeting of the previous day.

Nox was lying onto the ground in the forest when she heard the flapping of wings. The raven she had sent in the morning to retrieved the information on her sleeping arrangement seemed to have finally come back. Extending her hand when the beautiful black raven came into the clearing, she felt his claws onto her arm and smiled a little at the clever animal. He held a missive in his beak she got hold of, and flew to her shoulder after a pat of the head. Peeking over the shoulder of the hooded woman he was on, the raven seemed to read the scroll she had unsealed.

After a few minutes, the raven flew off into the sky, as the hooded woman started walking to the hotel she had been assigned.

So, she was sharing with Sabertooth?


	8. Chapter 8 Cryptic

As the clock struck Midnight, Rezef felt a tug. Quickly grabbing her cloak, she looked up to the sky to see the figure of a pumpkin announcing the first event of the Grand Magic Game; a sky labyrinth. This was a preliminary event made to select out of the 113 guilds willing to enter the event who would participate. Nox felt the ground under her feet shake, as she found herself now part of a giant structure in the sky.

She could hear the noises of the guilds all around her, and the shiver of the air as they passed by. Nox closed her eyes. Letting her mind fall into shadows, she disappeared into the darkness the moonlight could not chase.

The world of shadows was, to Nox, a beautiful place. Everything was flat, and yet it was far more beautiful than any creation of the real world. The shapes were blurry, but she only had to think of where to go to feel the cool rush of the shadows brushing against her skin as she sped by. It felt like a long, twisted and calm river in which she would gladly drown if it meant blocking out the pain.

Nox came out of the shadow world. Time had a different flow in there, and what was an hour in shadow time was merely a minute in the real world. She looked around herself. A gate with a sign "congratulation" above it seemed like the exit, as a pumpkin man waited for the winning participants. She took a step toward it, and the pumpkin turned toward her with a look of shock on his face.

"_how... when..."

"_yes?"

The pumpkin man shook his head, before shouting into his recorder;

"_Midnight Fear comes first by finding the exit in less than a minute! Record Broken!"

Nox casually walked through the opening and turned to the pumpkin man;

"_can I go back to bed now?"

Nox loved to look at the stars, which was why she was currently sitting in the lobby of her hotel. The ceiling was made of glass and allowed a beautiful view of the night sky. She leaned back into her seat, one leg tucked beneath her feet whilst the other dangled gracefully down. She had her gaze riveted onto the moon and waited for the Sabertooth guild to come back to the hotel. She wanted to know if they had made it.

Finally, after what seemed like seconds to her but turned out to be hours, she heard the loud, obnoxious voice of her favourite dragon slayer. Blondie came through the opening and Rogue soon followed. She saw their two Exceeds following them and three other people seemed to be there as well. As soon as they had passed the front door, what they said became understandable.

"_we smashed everyone!"

"_not everyone, one guild managed to come before us but could not be bothered to wait for her opponents." The guy who had spoken wore a red hat and a mask. He looked like a joker. Nox furrowed her brow. She did not really like the aura coming from him. Next to him was a very big man, who seemed to have a large amount of sheer power and finally a little woman. She was a celestial mage if her keys were anything to judge by. Nox sat back into her recliner. The shadows were engulfing her when she saw Rogue stop and sniff the air. Sting looked at him and did the same. At the same time, both turned around and looked dumbfounded.

"_Nox!"

She casually waved her gloved hand as Frosch came crashing into her chest like a bullet. The little Exceed was soon crying her eyes out again, as Lector came over to give her a hug.

"_hey guys." She said, standing up. She came over to both dragon slayers and gave them a short hug each. She laughed when she noticed Sting had her bell hung up to his trousers and gave him a peck on the cheek. He replied with a pat on the head and they let go of one another.

"_careful with the pats, Blondie. Wouldn't want to anger me now would you?"

"_no teasing then." She pouted.

"_fine, keep patting."

They three of them laughed heartily as Lector took his place again on her head. Frosch had finished crying and was sitting on her shoulder as Nox turned to Rogue, who introduced every member of his team:

"_Nox, this is Rufus Lore, Orga Nanagear, and Yukino Aguria. They are all part of Sabertooth's team."

"_not meaning to be rude or anything, but what are you doing here, girlie?"

"_back on nickname terms are we, Blondie? And very simple, I am participating in the Grand Magic Games of course! Did you think I would let go an occasion of have such fun with ya two?"

Translation: I couldn't wait to see you two again, I missed you guys.

"_oh, I can't wait to beat your sorry arse!" shouted Sting.

Translation: I missed you as well.

"_WE cannot wait to fight against you Nox." Rectified Rogue.

Improved translation: WE missed you too."

She sent them a dazzling smile under her hood, and gave them each a short hug before waving to their team and going back to her room. She felt strangely happy.


	9. Chapter 9 Day One of the GMG

The game hidden had started a few minutes ago. Nox saw Rufus making his way up the tower and, blending into shadows, followed him. The man's shadow was easily distinguishable in the underworld because of its peculiar shape. She stepped into it, letting him drag her to wherever he was going, though she had a small idea. Once his shadow had stopped moving, she jumped to another nearby and came out.

His back was facing her, and she could tell he had not seen her. She was still half in the underworld so she knew he was not able to sense her magical aura. The attack he was about to send would knock the opponents he could see out, but Nox was not about to give him the time to cast his spell. She stepped out as he was opening his mouth and sent her order flying.

"_sleep."

Rufus was hit square in the back. Him being the closest, he fell to the ground first. Then, one by one as the shock wave was radiating from her, all her six remaining opponents fell to the ground.

The bell rung to strike the end of the match.

"_and Nox of Midnight Fear is the winner. Next comes Rufus Lore of Sabertooth with eight points, then Raven Tail with six points, Lamia Scale with four, Quattro Cerberus with three points, Blue Pegasus with two, Fairy Tail B with one point and last comes Fairy Tail A! A round of applause for Midnight Fear!"

The stadium was silent, before timid claps came from a single person who stood up. Soon, a standing ovation was given to the hooded person. She shrugged, got down from her tower with Rufus on her back and jumped into the arena that was back to normal. She exited without looking back.

.

The second fight of the day was between Ren and Nox. Lucy of Fairy Tail A had been smashed by Flare Corona from Raven Tail and even though she knew the Ravens had cheated, Nox didn't mind. Those fairies deserved it. Descending in the arena, Nox noted almost immediately that Ren of the Blue Pegasus was part of the Alliance Team. It was his smell.

Nox wasn't going to kill him, because he hadn't done any physical harm to her friends, but when he entered the arena, she could tell she was not going to go easy on him. Simply because he was a Light Team member. And he deserved it.

His spells were weak and pathetic. She slashed through them without much trouble. Vazeriel was spinning in her hands, cutting the magic through cleanly. About half way through, she heard the annoying cheering of women join the constant chatting in the arena. She pinched the bridge of her nose as a commentator started also cheering for her opponent, arguing that a Lamia Scale girl was doing it as well. Ren blushed and lowered his guard, which annoyed Nox to no end. She sprung forward and, applying the tip of her sword to his neck said in a cold voice the reverberated throughout the now dead silent arena.

"_focus, or I might just happen to kill you."

She then kicked his stomach, sending him sprawling to the floor and went back to her place at the other end of the arena.

"_it seems that Nox wants to make the duel drag on! She just let Ren of Blue Pegasus go free of her attack. What has the previous event's winner in reserve to be so relaxed?!"

Ren then went on a rant on how him and Sherry were in love but not in love and Nox had enough.

"_pain!"

Ren screamed. The gentle fight she had put him through was gone. Now, Nox was pissed. And a pissed Nox could only spell trouble.

She stopped her spell very quickly, not wanting to injure the mage too much.

"_are you going to fight, now?" there was no gentleness in her voice. Panting, Ren stood up and opened his hands.

"_AERIAL PHOSE"

The spell rushed toward Nox who did not move out of the way. The amphitheatre had fallen silent again, wanting to see how the fight would end. The spell reached the woman, who disappeared from sight, hidden by the sand that had been raised by the spell. All held their breath as the sand slowly floated back down.

* * *

"_pathetic."

.

Her silhouette was seen through the sand, and she stepped out of it, unscathed. She extended her hand and said;

"_sleep."

The mage fell to the ground, unconscious.


	10. Chapter 10 Teasing in Public

The second day's first event was called chariot. The mages had to run on top of chariots to the arena. Magic was allowed to be used and any competitor falling down to the ground would be disqualified.

Nox looked around. She was the only woman participating, and was bored. Bored shitless. When the gun shot marking the beginning of the battle was heard, most of the competitors shot forward. Nox did not even bother to move yet, preferring to watch the three dragon slayers fall over from motion sickness. She slowly made her way up to Sting, who was bent over and looked green. She crouched down beside him.

"_do you want me to cast troia on you, Blondie?"

His eyes opened to her, and he looked really sick.

"_you... don't need to... pity me. I can... win this."

"_riiiiiiiight," she said sarcastic. "Naww poor ickle Stingy is sick..." she said in a singsong fashion before grabbing his neck in a headlock and tousling his hair. He grunted. Nox then stood up and skipped ahead. Sting tried to stand back up, but fell down again as the chariot shook particularly violently.

"_Nox!" she turned around, a winner smile on her face.

"_made you mind up, pretty boy?" she walked back to him as the pumpkin's attention turned back to the duo.

"_what is going on at the back?! Why is Nox not running? Does she have, as she has shown us so far, more than one trick up her sleeve? But! It seems she is healing Sting Eucliffe from Sabertooth from him motion sickness!"

Nox had cast the troia spell onto Sting who had lost his green colour and had started to run. Nox jumped onto his back, as she whispered into his ear;

"_run bitch! Run!"

She was clearly mocking Sting, who grabbed her and put her down.

"_girly, that ain't proper."

"_naw, sorry Blondie."

"_do the two know each other?" asked the pumpkin man whilst in Sabertooth's stand, every gaze turned to Rogue.

"_yes, as a matter of fact, they do. And they are great friends. Or more." He said, hinting at something. His friends burst out laughing as suddenly Sting and Nox vanished from sight.

"_huh? Where are they now?!" shouted the pumpkin man, more and more confused. Nox and Sting appeared right in the middle of the amphitheatre, about twenty metres away from the end. Sting was clinging onto Nox for dear life.

"_never... again." He said, looking seemingly relieved to have left the underworld. "That place is messed up! How do you know where to go?"

"_oh Sting! Look!" she said, pointing at the finish line. Both shared a look, before she pushed him over the edge.

"_oopsie daisy, my hand has slipped." She said to a dangling Sting.

"_bitch." He growled back, angered now.

"_naw... don t be like that handsome. Without me you would be back there puking you life out." He pulled onto his arms and rolled back on the chariot.

"_that s not even the right expression." The light dragon slayer replied, face palming.

"_oh, the others are coming. Bai bai." Said Nox, walking to the finish line.

"_hey! Wait up!" he shouted, catching up with her. She turned around, looking at the dragon slayer who quickly jogged back to her level. She then waved her hand and a rune barrier appeared, keeping all the other running opponents from reaching the finish line. She skipped with her best friend beside her and as they were about ten meters away from the finish line, they shared a look.

"_I would say ladies first, "started Sting.

"_but you are an asshole and don't want to lose." Finished Nox. "So um... ready, set, go?"

And Sting took off running. Nox didn't bother with such physical activities and went to the underworld. She jumped out right in front of Sting, tripped him over and skipped to the finish line whilst he was getting back up. As soon as he crossed the finish line, the rune barrier disappeared and the other guys ran for dear life.

"_Nox is once again first, with Sabertooth's light dragon slayer Sting in second place. This is one of the strangest chariot race we have ever seen since the beginning of the GMG! What other surprises do Midnight Fear and Sabertooth hold for us?"

.

This time, Nox was last to fight against Rogue's guild; Sabertooth. The celestial mage from before, Yukino Aguria entered the arena in front of her and took her place at one end as she stood at the opposite one. Yukino bowed to her.

"_despite you being dear to Sting and Rogue, I will not go easy on you." She said in a heartless voice.

"_bah, just do whatever you want kiddo. I don't really mind."

Yukino then drew out the golden key to Pisces gate, and summoned two giant fish.

Nox looked at the spirits, wondering just how much food they hosted when the twin fish split up and attacked her from both sides. She dodged, not even bothering to draw Vazeriel and Yukino summoned Libra. The spirit shook in fear when she saw Nox, and the hooded woman smirked. From behind her, the two fish were about to attack again when Nox jumped even higher, defying Libra's gravitational powers and placed her hands on their heads. She slammed them onto the ground. Seeing the woman was not affected by her spirits, Yukino closed their gates and summoned a thirteenth celestial gate; Ophiucus.

Nox yawned. There was no way this little cutie of a snake was going to stop her. Drawing Vazeriel from thin air, she grabbed her trusted sword and made two katanas out of her. When she snake attacked, she was ready and jumped, cutting the giant reptile in little slices. Yukino looked at her, wide eyed.

"_are you worth anything without your puppets?" she asked. There was no malice in her voice, no spite. It was a mere question. Yukino opened a silver gate and a celestial sword appeared. Vazeriel turned into twin blades into her hands, and Nox waited for the woman to strike at her. Yukino charged.

Nox wasn't taking Yukino seriously, which annoyed Sting and Rogue to no end. Standing up in their stand, the light dragon slayer shouted to Nox;

"_fight her, for fuck's sake! Fucking fight her!"

Nox smirked at them.

"_I wouldn't be so cocky, Mr Twin Dragon Slayers."

Yukino tried a stab, which Nox dodged skilfully. The girl lost footing for a second, which was enough to open the Time to Nox.

* * *

Each warrior has a Time. A speed at which they live and fight. Yukino had just broken her Time. And Nox was not going to let that slip by.

Snaking her left sword into the time, Nox applied the blade to her opponent's neck whilst she blocked an oncoming blow with her right. Yukino stopped moving. At every breath she drew, she felt the cold metal dig into her throat. Nox smiled.

"_my win." she said, before slamming the hilt of her sword on Yukino's scalp, knocking the woman out.

* * *

Pounding on her door shook the woman out of her reverie. She went to open the wooden panel and noticed the celestial mage of Sabertooth behind it. Immediately Nox caught sight of the tears in her eyes and pulled Yukino inside.

"_what's up?" she asked in a gentle voice despite not knowing how to act around proper humans. She was only used to Rogue and Sting who were half dragons. Yukino opened her mouth, trying to talk before she broke down and fell to the floor.

"_shhh." Whispered Nox into her ear. "Shhh."

"_I am... sorry." She said, cut by sobs. "Rogue. Said that. You. Would give me. A place to stay. At until..."

"_hey, hey. It's fine. If Rogue said so, then you will have a place."

She had finally gotten the girl to lie down and sleep. She had not wanted to leave Nox's room, crying into the pillow. Nox had stayed beside the girl, mentally cursing the shadow dragon slayer for sending the girl to her.

* * *

Yukino reminded Nox of Angel.

Shaking her head to get the dead woman out of it, Nox checked the celestial mage was asleep and set in search of Rogue's and Sting's rooms. She was going to have to shout.


	11. Chapter 11 The Beginning of Revenge

"_hello, hello, hello! Welcome to the third day of the Grand Magic Game!" said the little pumpkin man. Nox still didn't know his name, but his presence was enough to annoy the woman. "Today will start with the plague of Mages, the Pandemonium!"

The plague?! Really? Wondered Nox, taken aback. That must have been one of the stupidest thing she ever heard. Mages could take on anything. Anything and everything. They just had to train.

At that word, her thoughts strayed to her two friends, standing with their teams up in the stands. She caught Sting staring at her, and a smirk blossomed on her lips. The smirk of the winner. He chuckled and shook his head, that woman was going to be the death of him.

"_in this event, you will fight the number of demons you chose! Up to a hundred demons can be summoned, and you will write the number you wish to fight against on a piece of paper. They will be sealed in an envelope and once every one has chosen, the numbers will be read aloud! Once a number is written, you cannot change it! But careful! The demons all have a different level, from one S-class to several D-classes! You cannot chose which one you will fight against and your opponents will be randomly chosen! All beast are equal in value, and once defeated cannot be recreated. The game will keep going until all members have fought or the machine used to create the demons runs out! Good luck and now, write the numbers!"

Pen and paper appeared in front of her, along with a black envelope with Midnight Fear's mark on it. She quickly wrote her number down and sealed the envelope, careful as to not leave any prints on the various things she used. The pumpkin man gathered all the envelopes and opening the first one, shouted:

"_we will proceed with the highest bidder, and thus until the last one is standing! Here is the first envelope; going first is Fairy Tail's A team; Erza Scarlett. She will be fighting all hundred demons! Wow! This has never happened before! The demons have not been made to be fought altogether! How is Titania going to do, knowing if she loses her team will come last with zero points for this match?"

Cheers erupted from Fairy Tail's area, and she saw Rogue and Sting carefully watch her to guess her reaction. They were wondering how she would react to Titania unknowingly defying her but were met with a grinning and relaxed Nox. What has she planned?!

Nox was looking at Erza, gauging the woman. Even if Erza could fight all hundred of them, Nox was not going to let the woman have this win. Nox was dying for a fight against a member of the light team, and could not wait for her turn. They were in for a surprise.

.

The Fairy should have fallen long ago, suffering from some injuries. But she kept going. Always and always. The Fairy kept flying.

.

Nox grinned. She was not expecting anything less from the one who had killed her brother, but even if she was impressed by the standard this mortal had managed to gain, she was not ready to forget. Or forgive.

"_this is Fairy Tail, this is the power of the strongest guild in all Fiore!" shouted Erza, raising her katana. Nox grinned. Wait, she thought. Erza could just wait and see. And she would learn what being the strongest meant.

The arena burst in applauses. Nox grinned even wider, catching a worried look from her Twin Dragon Slayers.

"_wow! Is this what seven years' ago strongest guild can do? It shall be hard for the next opponent! And the next is..." the pumpkin man opened a few more envelopes, reading each time who and how many monsters would fight. Finally, he reached the last envelope bearing her guild's mark and opened it. "Do we have a highest bidder than 51 demons, from Jera of Lamia Scale?!"

The crowed held its breath, and Nox turned to her two, only friends. Their eyes locked for a second, before she winked and turned to Fairy Tail. She held their gaze, and a smirk stretched her lips. Revenge. Sweet little revenge.

"_we do! Nox of Midnight Fear has agreed to take on no less than a hundred demons! How is she going to follow up from that miracle Erza Scarlett has shown us?! If Nox, our second competing member in this trial could come forward?!"

.

Silence had fallen upon the amphitheatre. You could have heard a fly. Nox took a step forward, placing herself in front of the demons the machine was creating.

"_it seems that the machine has created not one, but TWO S-class demons! How is Nox going to bear the pressure of two monster kings?"

The woman paid no heed. Slowly, delicately as if she was made of glass, she faced the demons.

The machine sent a last demon out, a weaker one and suddenly, with a cloud of black smoke fell into pieces.

"_what is going on? It seems the machine has broken down from the amount of power it used to create all these demons! What are the judges going to..."

The pumpkin man fell quiet when he saw Nox extend her hand.

.

Thousands of people holding their breaths together, it creates a serious roar. Under the form of absolute silence.

One of the S-class animals slowly bent down, placing its horrid face into the palm of the woman's hand. Sting wondered who out of the two the real beast was. Nox slowly patted the demon, taking a confident step forward.

.

"_sit."

.

The order was clear, harsh. The beasts sat. All hundred of them, leaving the other S-class defying the woman. Her onyx eyes locked onto it and the beast whined.

"_sit." The voice was even harsher. Even colder. The beast sat down.

.

The amphitheatre was still quiet as dead, when she slowly turned around. Once her eyes were located onto Erza's, she said in a loud, cold and commending voice.

"_die."

.

The spectator and competing mages watched, wide eyed the arena. All were holding their breath, not daring the break the silence. Then, the sound of something hitting the sand was heard.

One by one, the beasts fell.

.

Nox's eyes were still defying Erza. She heard stutters coming from the pumpkin, as the redhead looked away from her. She turned to the fairies, bowed mockingly and said in a clear, loud voice.

"_It is only the start..."

.

An uproar of shouts, praises as clapping was heard as Nox made her way back to the entrance of the arena. She carelessly sat down on the sand, her cloak hiding her features and smirked at her two friends. They rolled their eyes, mouthing 'show-off'. She childishly stuck her tongue out. The small silver ball that she had put, this morning through her pierced tongue caught the light and Sting shook his head.

"_this... what..." the pumpkin had a hard time finding its words, before it found it s footing again; "this has never been seen before! Nox takes the lead of this fight! Since the machine has broken down, we will now hold a magic level contest. Here is the machine the rune knights use to assess their strength. Each remaining member will hit the scale and their magical level and hence ability will be classified."

* * *

The Fairy brat in their B team, Alberona, had a trick up her sleeve, which resulted in her getting third place. Nox sent a sour look toward the fairy's stand. She was going to have to fix that.


	12. Chapter 12 Of Clothing and Dragons

Nox was aware of the unease she caused. She didn't care. She didn't mind. Those humans could not understand what she went through on a daily basis because of those fairies. No, Nox didn't care what the people of Fiore thought.

However, she would not be able to bear it if Sting and Rogue looked at her like the others.

* * *

She stepped into the hall of the hotel she shared with Sabertooth. Many people were in the lobby, and she could almost sense their excitement after the games. People were talking about the fights that they had seen, most of them whooping at the mention of Midnight Fear. Nox smiled under to hood of her cloak and made her way to her room. She was on the seventh floor of the hotel, and her room was one of the few to be on that level. She had a panoramic view on the city as well as on the stars for her ceiling was transparent. She had left Yukino there this morning and given the girl the code to the lacryma vision so she could watch the Grand Magic Games.

When she entered her room, she heard Yukino's voice and five other, talking casually. She pushed the door open and stepped without making a noise into her room. Rogue, Sting their Exceeds and a woman she recognized as Minerva were talking with her. Nox stood there for a moment, before she nodded to them and made her way past them.

"_if they annoy you, tell me Yukino and I will kick them out."

"_thanks for taking her in, Nox. I know I should have warned you first but there was no time and..."

She held her hand up.

"_I don't mind, Rogue. Yukino is a nice girl. She is not a bother. I believe I haven't met Minerva yet." She extended her hand to the woman, who replied with a polite hello and both shared a handshake. Half way through the greeting, Nox caught Rogue's eyes onto the woman and looked at him with amused eyes. She then straightened up and took a closer look the Minerva. A smile appeared on her face when she noticed the bell hanging around her neck, chocker style. She laughed as Rogue cut her off from mentioning anything, saying;

"_don 't even dare to think about it." She had an amused smile on her face and unclasped her cloak.

"_if Sting and Rogue trust you guys, I can do so as well. My name is Rezef."

Minerva smiled at the woman, and both hit it off very quickly. They were both incredibly alike and often found themselves having the same opinions on thing. Finally, after about an hour of chatter during which Sting had not uttered a word, she turned to her dragon slayer.

"_what?"

He exploded.

"_what on earth were you thinking?! What if Fairy Tail tries to kill you? Or if the magic council decides to lock you up? Or what if that Raven Tail guild tries something dirty to get you out of the game or..."

She cut him off by placing her hand on his arm.

"_Sting. I am a big girl. Yes? I can take care of myself."

He slumped onto her couch.

"_I know... we are just worried." Frosch sat on Nox's shoulder whilst Lector went over to his Dragon.

"_Frosch is worried as well. Frosch thinks that people could hate Nox now, and Frosch doesn't want that."

Nox scratched the little cat under the chin before plopping her down and saying to her friends;

"_I don't know about you guys, but I am starving."

.

Minerva and Yukino had come along to get the food with the trio under the insistence of Nox, who had really taken a liking to the two women.

"_you see," she said "I have been living with those idiots for three months now... I am starting to miss a lady's company."

To her greatest surprise, Minerva, Sting and Rogue did not agree with Yukino being kicked out of the guild. They thought that nakama had to be there for one another and that the true strength of a guild was not in their magical power but in their love for one another. Nox had smiled at the thought. She knew Sting sometimes thought of the person he would have become had his path not crossed Nox's. She had sometimes heard him discuss it with Lector. Not long ago, Sting had told his Exceed that he believed if he had not met Nox, he would have laughed at the torture the fairy was put through by the redhead during the first day. That he would have been brought up to hate everything around him that was not strong magically. Nox had opened his eyes to another type of strength. And he was grateful for that.

Nox often also thought about where she would be now had she never met them. She imagined herself with a colder heart, a burning hatred animating her actions. She would have slowly withdrawn herself from the world until her vengeance had been completed.

In blood.

.

After the food, Nox, Yukino and the Tigers had decided to take a walk around the town they were in. The boy's Exceeds were starting to get rather tired, and Rogue volunteered himself to bring the little ones back, blushing when Minerva excused herself to accompany him. Nox had winked at the woman, and she had replied by poking her tongue out. Yukino had stayed for a little longer before leaving them at the entrance of their hotel. The remaining two had waved her goodbye and made their way to Crocus' park. Nox and Sting were talking light heartedly when they entered the green area.

The night was frisk. There was a chilly breeze in the air, but it failed to make any of the two shiver. They were far too warm. Sting closed her eyes and inhaled in the air of the night.

She could smell the fresh scent of pine trees from the forest nearby and the wetness of the grass around. The gurgling sound of water reached her ears. There was a river nearby, if she remembered correctly from the map she glanced at earlier. She smiled bitterly. It s not as if she could really forget it. She drew her hood back to enjoy further to coldness of the night.

"_what s the smirk for, Rez?"

And there was Sting. His smell was the one of warmth. She could smell the beast exuding from him, the odour of warmed up stones in the summer sunlight. She instinctively neared him.

"_nothing for you to worry about, Blondie."

"_oh really, now?"

She felt his finger tickle her side. She squirmed under his touch, and he chuckled. She tried to replicate with an attack of her own, when they both fell to the ground. They were in heaps of laughter by the time they starting rolling down the gently sloping hill, and their speed increased slightly. Rezef was clinging onto him, as suddenly, she felt herself fall. With a short yelp, the both of them fell in the water.

Sting surfaced an instant later, a laughing Rezef clinging to him. She let go of the charming dragon slayer whist he got out, and extend her hand, pouting. He chuckled softly before grabbing her hand and hoisting her out of the water. She grabbed his arm to steady herself and let go of the man with a cold shiver. Once wet, the breeze was far chillier. Sting grabbed her thighs and hoisted her up on his back. She laughed as her favourite dragon slayer starting giving her a piggyback ride to the hotel. Her arms sneaked around his neck, as she buried her face in the wet mass of his hair. She could feel the heat he radiated, as her nose nuzzled his neck. His breath hitched.

Her fingers were so cold. He knew she wasn't human, let alone alive, but her body had the cadaveric cold of a dead body. He squeezed her thighs tighter and was rewarded with a peck on the cheek.

"_we will be there soon."

.

Their hotel was one of the most expensive in the town, curtsey of the Magic Council. Rezef's room was on the top floor, and she loved the view she was given from up there. Sting and her entered the lift chuckling, as he pressed number three. She pouted slightly.

"_come to my room!"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"_I know we shared a camp for months, but are you sure that s a good idea?"

"_at least get cleaned there so you don't wake Rogue up." Seeing the logic behind that, he nodded and the woman and she pressed the number 7 of the lift. She snuggled closer to her friend as she felt the cold. He lightly sneaked an arm around her shoulder to warm her up a little. She closed her eyes and dropped her head onto his shoulder. She was tired.

The ting of the doors opening shook her out of her daze as she lifted her head from Sting's comfy shoulder and staggeringly got out of the lift. She looked around her pockets before remembering that she had given her key to Yukino. Luckily, the girl had left the door open. The celestial mage had left her keys in the little bowl on the counter, and she mentally made a note to thank her. She was walking into her own room when she froze and backtracked, walking into Sting. She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room, making sure not to close the door fully.

"_Rogue is asleep in there. With the two Exceeds. And Minerva. Can I tag along in yours after I get my stuff, please?"

"_sure, like the old times" she cracked him a smile as she tried to open the door.

Key word here : tried.

The door was locked. And the key was inside.

"_well, maybe getting my clothes will be harder than I thought..."

He chuckled, threw an arm around her shoulder and dragged her back to the lift.

"_looks like we'll get showered in my room then."

.

"_why do you think Rogue was in your room?" asked Sting to break the silence in the lift.

"_dunno. Most likely he left without you giving him the keys..."

A light bulb went off above his head, and Rezef smiled. Sometimes, he was just too cute.

Closing her eyes in content, she groaned when the doors opened. She was just getting comfortable.

.

The scalding water that ran down her body was a welcome change to the cold of her skin. She could feel the bite of the warmth and see her skin turn red from the attack. The soap had long washed out of her hair and she was just standing there, doing her best not to fall asleep but too tired to move. She finally had the strength to pull herself away from the hot water when she thought of Sting standing on the other side of the door, waiting. She pulled the white curtain aside, as her voice crossed the door.

"_huh... Sting?"

"_yeah?"

"_what towel should I use?"

There was a blank moment, during which she could picture Sting blushing as he said:

"_just grab any. There is 50% chance you won t get mine."

She smiled. That was so Sting like. Grabbing the one the folded in the tidiest fashion, she quickly dried herself before turning to her clothes.

There was a puddle under the iron bar she had hung them on, and everything, to the last piece of underwear was dripping. She held back a curse just in time, as she hung everything properly, instead of the half-messy pile she had created and made sure none of her undies were showing before going out of the bathroom, clad in a towel. Sting was sitting on his bed, his boots coat and top off. His trousers had been thrown carelessly onto the floor and he was only in his boxers. Not fazed by the amount of muscle he was showing, Rezef went over to him.

"_could I also borrow clothes? Mine are dripping wet."

He merely nodded, motioning for her to help herself in his suitcase. She grabbed a t-shirt that was too large for her and a pair of –clean- sleeping boxers. Slipping them on once he was in the bathroom, she lain down on the bed and fell asleep instantly.

.

Polite, soft knocks on the door shook Rezef awake the next morning. She could feel beside her Sting slowly waking as well as he shifted his body away from hers, his arm leaving her stomach in the process.

"_get it Rez..."

"_mph..." his voice was so deep Rezef found it hard to resist. Throwing a jab at him as to not appear too obedient, she climbed out of bed. She quickly grabbed a pair of pants and pulled them on before opening the door.

Rogue was standing there, staring at her clothing. Behind him, the two Exceeds were making kissy noises. Her brain slowly kicking in gear, Rezef stepped aside to allow Rogue access and slapped both cats behind the ears as soon as they passed nearby. Sting was still in bed when Rogue stepped into the room and he went over to his friend's bed, shaking the blond up.

"_come on, you were meant to be at breakfast half an hour ago. Sorry for crashing in your room, Rez, but Sting had the key..." he said apologetically to the girl, turning to face her.

"_not a problem; I stole Sting's clothes. Where is Yukino by the way?"

"_ Frosch fell asleep onto your bed whilst we were chatting, so she took Minerva's room."

"_oh, okay. I'm gonna go change now. See you guys later!"

She quickly entered the bathroom, hoping her clothes were dry. Bad luck, only her underwear was. Sighting, she picked the wet clothes, folded them and pulled the dry one on. Putting the trousers back on, she called out to her friends.

"_could someone lend me a shirt please?"

Almost immediately, a pale hand she recognized as Rogue's slipped in and she quickly grabbed the dark beige fabric before closing it and locking the door again. She pulled the shirt on, sighting unsatisfied when it stopped under the breast. She groaned and kicked the bathroom door open.

"_hey Rez, have you seen my shir..." Sting turned around, looking at the girl that was wearing his clothing.

Damn, he thought. She looks hot in it.

"_ask Rogue." She replied, sticking her tongue out. "I'll be going back to my room now. Can I have my key, Rogue?"

The shadow dragon slayer laughed and handed them over to her, whilst she gathered her things. As she was about to cross the door, Sting's voice echoed through the room:

"_hey! Don't change out of that outfit! You definitely look hot in my clothes!"

Rezef laughed and waved the dragon slayer goodbye.


	13. Chapter 13 Midnight

The following morning, the GMG opened with duels. The first ones to be called were a fight all had been looking forward to, the fight following up from the previous event, which was still lacking a winner; Nox and Erza.

Erza entered the arena, cheered on by her peers. Natsu was one of the loudest, screaming for the woman to kick ass. Nox smirked. Oh, she thought. Erza was only the starters.

* * *

When the duel began, Erza hurriedly reequipped to her fairy wheel armour. The swords turned toward Nox whom did not move.

"_forward, my fairies!" shouted the redhead.

They were travelling at full speed, hurrying toward their target who, to Sting and Rogue's dismay did not move. The spears were only a meter away, when the light dragon slayer gripped the banister and tensed. They however never landed, as Nox held her arm up. The swords halted, before turning around and attacking Erza. She quickly sent them back to their dimension. Erza then grabbed a sword that had appeared out of nowhere and charged at the hooded woman. Rogue joined Sting at the banister when Nox, not giving a damn in the whole world simply yawned when the weapon attempted to strike her. Erza, dumbfounded to find her sword not able to touch her opponent, tried a stab. Her own sword pierced her back, it having been deflected.

"_so you use THAT kind of magic?!" said the redhead.

Nox did not answer. Instead, she moved her fingers slightly and Erza's armour squeezed and pierced through her skin. The reequip mage threw the sword she was holding in her direction, and she ducked by moving her head to the side. Erza got a disturbing feeling of déjà-vu. Reequipping into her Yume armour, which was elastic, she said:

"_your magic, like Midnight's has three weak points. The first one is that you cannot use your magic for both attack and defence. The second is that you cannot distort the human body, or you would have directly attacked me, and not distorted my clothes. Lastly, this elastic armour is your third weak point."

* * *

Nox was furious. That woman, that fairy had dared to utter his name in her presence! Responding to the burning hate in her, Nox took a step forward. Erza saw her skin suddenly start to rip, burn and burst. She let a scream out as a gash appeared on her stomach.

"_huh huh. Seems you were wrong, fairy."

Her pain was unbearable. Her blood was boiling in her veins, her skin was ripping itself apart and her own organs were churning on themselves. She saw her body move of its own accord, unable to control her actions. She was floating in the air, for all to see. After a last burst of pain, during which she could feel her own skin rip off the mark she had obtained from her being in the light team. She dropped to the ground in a heap of pain.

.

"_can you feel it?" she head Nox ask. "Can you feel the pain of losing your family? Can you feel the pain of being an outcast? Can you feel the god damned pain of wanting to die? Wanting it all to end?"

Erza shook as she tried to stand on her own two legs.

"_I have to ... fight... fight... for my nakamas." She said in a shaky voice.

"_funny enough," replied the hooded form "I also fight for mine. Do you remember him? Do you remember his tears? Their tears? Do you remember them?!"

She had shouted the last part, and the sudden quietness of her voice in the amphitheatre only accentuated the eerie of her following statement.

"_no you wouldn't. You weren't here when they died. When he died. Right here, right in my arms. You and your so called nakama, who got praised for killing my family. My nakamas. Who are you to say his name again? Who are you to even dare not feel the guilt?!"

Nox was out of control. She lifted Erza off the sandy ground and held her in the air as she ordered;

"_pain."

.

The torture lasted five minutes. Five minutes in the crunching of the bones, of the gurgling of the blood. The screams and the pleas for help from the scarlet fairy only teased the burning hate that consumed Nox's body and mind. Finally, as the bell was about to ring to announce the end of the match, Nox dropped her useless body to the ground and left the unconscious fairy there. There was silence in the arena. Most spectators had turned away, and she could see Fairy Tail glaring at her hooded form. People stared, wide eyed at what had happened.

Wasn't Erza meant to be the strongest female mage of Fairy Tail?

Sting and Rogue had turned away from the fight. She could not see anything in their eyes, which they kept away from her. So, feeling a constricting pain in her chest, Nox turned to the fairies.

"_this is only the beginning."

Her promise was left hanging in the air as she departed.

.

The arena was still silenced by shock when the pumpkin man shouted again;

"_and for the first duels of the day, Semmes from Quatro Puppy against... against Nox of Midnight Fear."

The applause that had started when hearing the first contestant died out at the announcement of Nox's name. It was in the dead silence of the arena that Nox stepped out of the dark opening to face Semmes. The mage was unsure of himself, and Nox immediately picked up on his fear of her. She smirked under her hood. As soon as the fight started, Semmes spun on himself. Nox looked at him, eyebrows raised as she waited for an attack. She saw him gain in speed and start rampaging toward her. She smirked. He was only a few metres away when her voice coursed through the arena.

"_stop." The man froze in mid spin.

"_fall." His body hit the ground.

"_sleep."

He was unconscious.


	14. Chapter 14 Angel

Nox smirked as she entered the water sphere. This was easy for her, as there was matter for her to control. She started by kicking the guy out with a simple water wave, and quickly got rid of every girl apart from Lucy and Minerva by making vines of water grab them and toss them out one by one. Juvia was a bit harder to get rid of, as the water mage could turn her body into liquid. Even though, Nox was able to control the matter and a water-Juvia found herself being washed away by a strong current. Trapping Lucy into a water cage, the cloaked figure turned to Minerva.

"_I would keep you last to fight, but it would be bad if you came last because of me. So you are going to be second."

"_who says I will be last?!" shouted the War God mage.

"_no one."

.

Minerva tried to create a portal to grab the hood and pull it off, when it suddenly closed. Her eyes opened wide.

"_what are you doing?!"

She didn't bother to answer, but rather attacked the tiger. Water started swirling around Minerva, who tried to open a portal but found she could not. Frustrated, she screamed and tried to swim through and get to the woman. The water intensified, and it soon turned so quickly she could not put her arm through the wall it created or it would be ripped. Slowly, the water prison moved to the edge of the water sphere and constricted on itself. A scream of pain erupted from her lips as the typhoon touched her arms and legs. It suddenly vanished, and she felt her body slump. The last thing she heard before she passed out was the order;

"_fall"

* * *

Lucy was shaking with fear. She didn't know why that psycho girl wanted to hurt her as she did to Erza, but she was sure that if she was to fight against her, she would lose. Lucy felt her panic accentuate as the water prison she was in faded and Nox stood in front of her.

"_boo."

Lucy screamed. Nox smirked, and dragged the girl to the centre of the sphere.

"_wouldn't want you falling out before I have my revenge now, would we?" there was something in Nox's voice. Something cold, chilling and hard. Lucy shivered but summoned Aquarius nonetheless.

"_gate of the water bearer; Aquarius!" her spirit appeared, and she seemed shocked to see Nox there. Aquarius took a 'step' back as Nox smirked.

"_gate of the scorpion; Scorpius." Her voice was calm, posed. Scorpius appeared next to Nox.

"_what?" stammered Lucy. "But... he is my spirit!" Nox's smirk grew bigger as she waved at Aquarius leaving with Scorpius.

"_bai bai," she said. "And take your time!"

"_how do you do this?! They are both mine! I summon thee, spirit of the lion; Leo!"

"_Aries." Nox knew what she had just done was mean, but she still smiled at the ram. "Don't worry sweetheart, you won't have to fight against Leo. I know you two are great friends."

"_wait!" shouted Lucy as both Leo's and Aries' gates closed. "Why did you do that?!"

"_why? Why?! But it seems rather clear to me, fairy." She had spat the word, as if it was poison. "For the sweetest thing on earth. For Revenge."

Lucy shivered. The girl was mad. She inhaled once, and then suddenly opened her golden eyes.

"_Urano Metria!"

She waited. And waited. The spell never appeared. Nox stared mockingly as she panicked.

"_what?! Why is it not working?! Urano Metria! Leo! Aries! Gemini!"

The panic on the girl's face was like honey to her. A slow, sadistic smile appeared on her hooded face.

"_pain."

.

Sting couldn't take it anymore. He wouldn't. Avenging her dead teammates was something understandable, but the way Nox was doing it made it seem over the top. The screams of the celestial mage had been running through the arena, tearing apart the silence that had fallen. Minerva was lying on the sand, unconscious. Sting got up from his seat and made his way to the stairs.

"_where are you going?" asked Rogue as Lector, Sting's Exceed was about to follow the dragon slayer.

"_to stop Nox before the fairy dies."

.

Sting had no clue how he was going to get Nox to stop, but he knew how he was going to get in the arena. Running down the stairs, he tried to ignore the screams of the blond that were echoing all around him. After what seemed to him like an eternity, the dragon slayer neared the square of light that was the arena's entrance. He saw other guilds there, dragging their fallen comrades away from the crazed woman. Sting entered the sunlight.

The water was a transparent crimson, tainted by all the blood that was shed. He could see the fairy, her wails of hurt reverberating in his head. He had to stop her. He carefully neared the sphere to grab Minerva, and quickly shot out of the place. He came back once he had laid her down away from the battle and stood at the entrance door.

"_Nox!"

The hood turned to him.

"_what do you want, Blondie?" her voice was somewhat kind, despite the point of anger the pierced through her calm demeanour.

"_stop this, Nox. This is madness. You know you have won, and she is hurt enough. Nox, what joy will it bring you to make her suffer any longer? Angel wouldn't want that!"

"_what do you know?! Did you see her body, washed out onto the shores? Did you see her skin, burnt by the strength of the Urano? Did you watch as her torn wings lost their feather? She wanted to fly, for fucks sake! All she ever asked for was to vanish into the sky in a rain of feathers! But no. No. She was burnt by the light of the stars, torn away from her dreams and left in a river. Why should I let her go? Why should I forgive?! Tell me Sting? What is this fairy to you? Why do you even care?! You weren't the one to hold Angel through the night when she had a nightmare. You weren't the one to see her fade away. You weren't the one..." she stammered, her voice thick with emotion. With another scream from the blond, she composed herself and finished in a heartless, cold voice. "You weren't the one to come home and see her dangling from the ceiling. You did not pick up her white feather that had fallen on the floor. No. You didn't Sting. So go back to Sabertooth, go back to Rogue, Lector and Frosch and we can still be friends."

She was bursting with anger. Was Sting... was he turning against her? Was he in love with that fairy bitch?

"_tell me, oh so great Sting Eucliffe. Do you love that fairy to care for her like that?"

She was now holding Lucy by the throat, dangling in the air out of the sphere.

"_no" he replied in a calm voice. "I do not like fairies. However, this is my problem because you are my friend, Nox."

"_your friend, riiiight. Take care of your precious human and leave me alone, dragon slayer."

"_Nox!"

She threw the woman at him, and he grabbed her before dropping her to the ground. The water sphere burst, and he saw Nox land on the now wet sand. He tried to grab her arm.

She walked past him, her back straight under the cloak and ignoring the blond dragon she had come to consider her friend. He had saved the fairy bitch, but she didn't care. She would make the other pay.

Sting Eucliffe, she thought. I had hoped we could be friends. What a joke. Guess I was wrong.


	15. Chapter 15 Racer

Nox smirked in the shadows of her stand when her name was shouted to fight against both Lyon Bastia and Yuka Suzuki of Lamia Scale. She had a score to settle with the former on the account of Racer's death.

She emerged from the shadowed depth of the entrance to the arena to find both men already in the arena, placed side by side to face her. She stepped into the light and caught a worried glance from Rogue. Her cloak flew a bit in the slight wind that had been there since the morning and Sting caught sight of his shirt underneath the black fabric. It revealed her toned stomach and he felt himself almost blush at the thought of it. Shaking his head to get rid of the bad ideas forming, he exhaled sharply. Next to him, Rogue smirked, having also noticed the top.

"_what is so funny?" asked Minerva.

"_Nox is wearing Sting's top."

"_he liiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes her!" said Frosch in a cute voice. The light dragon slayer tried to grab the damned Exceed to get her to shut up, but she flew off and he brought his attention back to the arena where Nox was facing both Lamia Scale mages. He wondered if she also had a score to settle with one of them when she used a type of speed magic instead of her usual fighting style.

Yuka had quickly been thrown off game with a blow to the head Nox had delivered him and she was currently fighting against Lyon. The mage was trying to get the woman to slow down and remembered that Grey had once used an ice wall to stop Racer's speed.

Nox was expecting this move from him, and was ready to act in consequence. Therefore, when she saw him adopt the position of the ice wall, she called upon Vazeriel who materialized in her hand as a small dagger. With the speed of light, she drew a door in the ice wall that allowed her to go past. She then sped up toward the boy and placed her dagger under his neck.

"_I don't need much strength to kill you. This small dagger allied to my speed will be enough to slice through anything."

Lyon's eyes widened.

Racer had uttered those exact words to him before Grey shot the man. Nox smirked in a way that promised the man a thousand tortures.

"_explode."

The sand around them started bubbling, before geysers of sand shot through the air. Lyon looked around, fearful when one sprung up from under his feet. He was sent soaring through the air and landed on the sandy floor. Another one shot up, and he was sent flying again.

Lyon's body was battered, broken and reddened from the strength of the grain sand. His skin was raw and he felt hurt every time he was touched. He laid on the ground, unmoving. Nox bent over him.

"_sleep."

No one really understood why Nox was so hell bent onto hurting only some of the member of the Light Team. The ancient partners shared a look, before their gaze settled upon Natsu, the only unscarred member that had killed an Oracion Seis. What did she have in store for him?

.

Nox wasn't particularly willing to go back to her hotel. She knew from their attitude in the past days that Rogue or at least Sting would be there to "put some sense into her" and she had seen the man stomp off the amphitheatre. Duels after hers had been cancelled because the sand was burning hot and still sprouting geysers from time to time. Nox had told them it should stop after twelve hours of non-use and the matches had been pulled back to the following day.

She was however still walking back to her room because Yukino needed to go there and she wasn't quite mentally ready to walk through the streets of her old home yet. She would have asked Minerva to accompany the celestial mage but the woman was still a Sabertooth and it would be perceived as treason. So Nox was walking back to her room, weather she liked it or not.

* * *

She knew Sting was pissed off because he was worried but didn't expect him to be this angry. The man was pacing in her room, fuming when both women entered her apartment. Minerva and Rogue were sitting on the couch, with faces on that meant nothing short of 'I am sorry but we couldn't stop him'. She shrugged at them as Sting turned to her when the door opened.

"_what on earth were you thinking! After Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale is also going to want you head! Why did you beat Lyon up?!"

"_oh yeah, and let Lyon get off easy despite the fact he killed Racer?"

"_Racer set off the dynamite himself! And Racer is dead Rezef. Dead."

He had called her by her name. Full name. He had basically told her that what she was doing was stupid because they were dead. She couldn't agree more, but she had to do it.

"_and what would you have me doing?! Letting them off the hook? Why should I? Why?!" she had grabbed his fur jacket and was shaking him. He grabbed her arms as her cloak came unclasped under the strain.

"_grow up for fuck's sake! You are not five! Revenge is not going to get you anywhere!" she felt his power activate on her skin, as his hand glowed brightly. She hissed in pain at the strong hold he had on her, only enhanced by his power. Rogue placed a hand on Sting's shoulder, trying to get him to let go of Rezef when the woman placed her hand against his chest.

"_sorry. Sleep."

He slumped against her. Rez gently put her hand around his torso before flipping him over and laying him onto the floor. The skin on her arm, where Sting had grabbed her, was glowing in the shape of a handprint. It slowly was absorbed into her body as two large bruises were left behind. Under their bewildered eyes, they faded almost immediately.

Rez motioned for them to move off the couch, which she drew out into a bed on which she set Sting. She then casted a spell onto him, setting his awakening for the following morning. She afterwards left the room without a word.

.

She needed to have some time by herself during which she could set things straight in her mind. She passed into the underworld.

The shadows had always held some kind of comfort for the woman but this time they did not help her. She sat there, amongst the ethereal shapes wondering what she had become. Did she really shed unnecessary blood? It's not as if she had killed anyone. Merely harmed them so that they would remember. Yes, but remember what? The broken family they left behind? The tattered future they stole? The lives they cut short? It's wasn't as if they even knew why she was doing this. So why? Then she understood why.

Because she needed to.

She needed to grieve and this was her own way of saying goodbye. She had held so much hatred inside herself someone had to pay. And she took it out on them. Because in her eyes, they deserved it. For killing her family, her nakama. They deserved pain.

Not death.

She inhaled, exhaled and left the underworld. Finally, at peace with herself, she made her way to the park.

* * *

When Sting awoke, the bed next to him was cold as ice. He assumed it was because Rez had gotten out first and was under the shower when he realized the events of the past days. No. It was because Rez had not slept next to him. His hand came to cover his eyes, as he felt the guilt watch over him. He had hurt her. He had heard her hiss of pain and hadn't let go of her. He had hurt her.

He sat up with a groan at his aching head, as Rezef came out of the bathroom.

"_you are awake." She sat on his bed, next to him. "How are you feeling?"

"_in all honesty? I have never slept so well despite my body hurting a little."

She stayed quiet for a second, before lifting her head and meeting his gaze. Her black and silver eyes met his blue ones as she placed a hand on his arm.

"_I am sorry. I got you worried and I hurt you." Her head hung down in shame, as she felt soft crimson tears make their rolling way down her cheeks. Her hands were about to come cover her face in shame when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and pull her into his chest. His hand snaked up to cup her face as his thumb chased the tears away.

"_I am the one who should be sorry. I didn't believe in you and I hurt you. I apologize, Rez."

She sent him a poor smile, as another tear made its way onto her cheeks. He kissed it away, before smiling at her.

"_I missed you, girlie."

"_I missed you too, Blondie."


	16. Chapter 16 Cobra and Brain

"_and the long awaited battle between Fairy Tail and Sabertooth, Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox against Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheeney!"

Nox was scowling. She didn't want her dragon slayers to fight her fight; Natsu and Gajeel were hers. The burning hatred that had come to life in her stomach ever since the Nirvana was destroyed had subsided to embers, but she knew how to rekindle that flame of hate.

Natsu Dragneel was going to burn in the pits of hell.

* * *

She saw Rogue and Sting enter the arena. She immediately smelled the fear that haunted their minds, despite them doing their best to hide it behind a facade of cockiness for Sting and calmness of Rogue. Nox's brow furrowed. What would they fear?

Tearing her eyes from the fierce battle that had started, Nox looked around the amphitheatre. She smelled blood, and quickly, her eyes shot back to the sandy arena. Natsu and Gajeel were on the floor. A slow smirked blossomed on her lips, but the two men shot back up, screaming in Fairy Tail's name that they fought for their nakama. Sting and Rogue were sent flying by an attack they did not expect, and Nox focused solely on the arena. She saw Sting's eyes turn to the Sabertooth stand, and his hands balled into fists he dug in the ground.

Nox looked in that direction, and her blood boiled.

Humans were greedy, humans were cruel. Humans did not respect life and freedom.

Otherwise, why would Frosch and Lector be stuck in a cage?

* * *

The hooded woman got up from her seat, nearby the stairs. She caught Sting looking at her, despair and pain in his eyes. Lector... she sent him a reassuring gaze, and disappeared in the dark opening.

He had to get back up. In the name of Lector. The Exceed needed him to win, otherwise he would get killed by the master. He needed to get his friend back.

Rogue hit the ground next to him. Both of them were down.

"_Fro...sch..."

So Rogue thought of his friend as well.

* * *

"_Frosch thinks Rogue-kun is the best! He will win!"

"_no, Sting-kun is better. Sting-kun will not lose to those stupid fairies."

Their heads shot to the side.

Next to the hooded woman were two little flying cats. Tears pooled in Rogue's eyes as Minerva and Yukino appeared there as well.

"_Frosch!"

Nox smiled at them from under her hood. The Dragon Slayer Duo closed their eyes, smiling softly. When they opened them again, they were steel hard.

They would win this fight.

Win and then leave Sabertooth.

.

He couldn't understand. Natsu could not possibly be that strong. Sting inhaled to do a dragon roar, when he felt a burning pain in his leg. Rogue next to him stumbled to the floor, an iron lance piercing his side.

No, the light dragon slayer thought. No. I cannot lose!"

The last thing he heard before slipping into darkness was the soft jingle of a bell.

.

She watched them, her only friends, falling to the floor unconscious. Nox saw red. She could not wait. The soft jingle of a bell drew a smirk on her lips. Light enveloped her. When Lector turned around, the hooded form was not there anymore.

.

A blinding light invaded the arena. Once it had faded, a hooded form was standing there.

"_you hurt my family, that ain't gonna go by me."

.

The amphitheatre had fallen silent at the apparition of this new opponent. Only the voice of the pumpkin man was heard, as he tried to explain what was going on:

"_it seems that Sting Eucliffe from Sabertooth was able to summon someone whilst falling! This has never been heard of before, but it looks like it is allowed by the rules! Could this hooded person be Nox, of Midnight Fear?!"

She stood there, her feet planted firmly on the ground. She was going to defend her family. Past and present. She took a step forward, her hood melting to silver in order to form an Armour. The now platinum hard cloak clung to her body, despite the hood having kept its consistence. A sneaky ray of sunlight showed her face was entirely covered in the same substance. Her lips parted, as her finger extended in Gajeel's direction;

"_sleep."

.

The Dragon slayer fell to the floor, knocked out. She turned to Dragneel. A smirk stretched her lips. Flame engulfed her opponent's body, as she said.

"_I can hear you."

He readied to send a roar, when she said;

"_roar of the fire dragon? How pathetic."

"_how... how do you know?" there was a feeling of déjà-vu Natsu did not like.

"_I can hear you. I can hear your thoughts."

"_I don't care! Roar of the fire dragon."

"_shield of the poison dragon."

.

Shock was written all over his figure.

"_what?! That Cobra man was THE poison dragon! How can you..."

"_are you going to stand there? Not fight?"

"_arrrrgh! By the secret technique of the Crimson Lotus! ROAR OF THE FIRE DRAGON!"

"_genesis zero!"

The dark vortex that sprouted from Nox's hands engulfed Natsu's flame, totally extinguishing it.

"_eat the soul and flame of my opponent."

Darkness surrounded the dragon slayer, as he once again tried to generate the golden flames that would eat the magic.

He found himself unable to, as the nightmares starting overwhelming him.

.

The poison Nox had injected into Natsu's body started giving the man illusions of pain, anguish and death as his own body was slowly starting to burn from the acid. The spell she had cast upon him had trapped the man inside a sphere of darkness that could not yet be broken. Leaving Natsu to his own fears, Nox turned to the other mages in the arena.

Gajeel was still asleep, as her order had not worn out yet. Sting and Rogue were on the floor, passed out. She slowly made her way to the two, as her hands started glowing.

"_heal."

In front of the bewildered eyes of the amphitheatre, the wounds, bruises and broken bones the two had suffered slowly started fading. Bones mended, skin grew over and blood was swept back into their system. After a few seconds, the two men were stirring. Rogue fell back into deep sleep straight away, having been in high pain due to the iron lance that pierced his stomach. Even though she had healed him, his mind had still token a toil and he would need a few hours of good sleep before waking up again. On the other hand, Sting had suffered high burns, which the skin mended very well, and he opened his eyes. Nox was immediately by his side.

"_hey." She whispered. He cracked a smile.

"_hey to you too..." his voice was raspy from the need of a drink, and he felt a bit sore. Nox summoned a water bottle from the side, and he gratefully drank from it.

"_not meaning to be rude, but what are you doing here?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"_you called me."

"_I didn't ring the bell though..."

"_you don't need the bell. You just have to call me in your mind strongly enough, and bell will tingle by itself."

She smiled at him, a genuine and cute smile.

"_now, sleep Sting. I have everything under control." She kissed his forehead as he fell backwards. She caught him at the last moment and gently laid him down onto the floor.

Rising up again, Nox turned to the shell of darkness that enveloped Natsu and with a wave of her hand dismissed it.

"_sleep." She commended, as the boy fell into slumber. She was left standing in the arena, as the pumpkin man shouted:

"_it seems that the Twin Dragon Slayers from Sabertooth won this duel, despite the mean being questionable. Sabertooth gains ten points!"

Nox saw Minerva shooting up from her seat, rushing to the stairway and appearing at the edge of the arena a few seconds later. Smiling under her hood, Nox motioned the woman over as she was lifting both men.

Shyly, which was rather rare from the War God Mage, she came forward to receive Rogue. The tiger extended her hands, slowly sliding her crush down the hooded woman's arms and into hers. She created a portal whilst hugging the man to her chest and stepped through it straight to the infirmary. Equally worried with her dragon slayer, Nox levitated the man and in a snap of her fingers, both of them were gone.


	17. Chapter 17 Hidden Confession and Clothes

They materialised in Nox's hotel room and she immediately shed her cloak. Rezef then lifted the man up onto her bed and starting tending to his health.

The physical wounds had been healed, but Sting was still immensely weak from all the magical power he had used during the fight. He also had a little fever, due to the extent to which he had pushed his own body. Sighting slightly, Rezef summoned a clean cloth, a brook of cold water and, soaking it slightly, delicately placed it on his forehead. She drew the covers over his body and went into her little kitchen to make him a hot soup.

She was searching through her draws for some spoons when she felt Sting stir a little. Finally finding the metal object, she grabbed the bowl full of miso soup and made her way to her bed. His eyes were trying to open, but the light of the room was hurting his retina. She quickly turned the ceiling bulbs off and the light of the city pooled in from the open widows on both sides. His eyes opened once more, and soon focused on the figure that was sitting on the bed, next to his torso. Rezef.

"_Rez..." she smiled at him, and lifted the steaming bowl off her lap. Softly blowing on a spoonful of miso, she locked eyes with him. Once it had cooled down enough, she brought it to his lips.

"_you need to eat, and drink."

.

Once Sting had finished his bowl of soup, he laid back down onto the cool sheets. Rezef drew the covers up to his shoulders, before tucking them in. He smiled and chuckled. She brushed an imaginary strand of hair away from his forehead and wrung up the cloth before applying it. His eyes closed in content.

"_hey, Rez?"

"_yes?"

"_Rogue, where is he?"

"_Minerva is taking care of him right now. She ran down into the arena to take him when he fell."

Sting chuckled a little, his eyes still closed.

"_I am glad... he has liked her for quite some time now. I find it funny that he always knows when I am in love but cannot seem to perceive his own emotions."

Rezef smiled slightly, even bitterly.

"_you know, Sting. People are often more receptive to the love others have than the one they have."

His eyes opened.

"_and you, Rez? Do you have someone you would run to in an arena if he was wounded?"

She stopped in her tracks, turned around slightly and looked at the light dragon slayer.

"_I didn't think you would feel the need of asking me that question, Sting."

His eyes turned to hers, as she plopped the bowl and spoon she was holding down on a chest of drawers. She turned back to him and walked over to his bed.

"_do you have someone you would run to without that cloak?" he asked again.

"_yes." He closed his eyes, defeated. Her voice started again.

"_yes I do. Someone I have ran to and never really left. Someone who has helped me without even knowing it."

"_does he know you... Rez?"

"_yes, yes he does. And the craziest is that he stuck by. Sometimes I wonder just how crazy dragons can be."

His heart warmed up at those words. Dragons.

Maybe, maybe he had a slight chance.

A very audacious sunray sneaked in through the window as the sun started to rise. It tickled Sting's face, and the man slowly opened his eyes. His body felt rested, and he had stopped aching all over.

His eyes closed again at the thoughts of the previous day. His hands passed through his hair, as he felt tears pool in his eyes.

Lector and Frosch. They had hurt his Exceed.

His hand was slowly coming to rest by his side when he felt the warmth of a body near his. He turned to the side, finding a sleeping Rezef lying next to him. A small smiled graced his lips. Her arms sneaked up around his middle in her sleep, and her head inched closer. He wrapped his own around her and pulled her near.

Her face was mere millimetres away from his, and he could feel her breath tickle his neck every time she exhaled. Her black and silver hair was sprayed onto the sheets, and she was wearing his clothes she had borrowed a few days back. In his eyes, she was beautiful.

Sting didn't really know why he did it, or what power pushed him to, but he felt the urge to, and despite having talked about hearts with her just the night before, he couldn't resist.

He kissed her.

Her lips were full, firm and a purple colour. They were cold like ice. They tasted metallic, like blood and also a bit like the light he ate. He liked it. Her scent was surrounding him, and he was slowly drowning himself in her. Suddenly, his eyes shot open.

Her arms sneaked around his neck as she answered his kiss. His lips were soft, like honey. They were warm and inviting, making his every word appealing. Her fingers trailed in his hair, as she peeked between her lashes. He was closing his eyes he had opened in surprise. She smirked against his mouth. She had come to a conclusion.

She was definitely in love with the idiot named Sting Eucliffe.

She stepped out of the bathroom, only dressed in a towel. She saw Sting's eyes trail down her legs, and laughingly she walked past him. He plopped a kiss on the crown of her head before entering the steamy room.

Rezef wasn't quite sure as to where her and Sting stood, but she didn't really care. She knew he loved her, and he knew it was reciprocal. That was, in her eyes all that mattered. Sucking it all up like the big girl she was, she pulled on a pair of trousers and his top. She really was in love with his clothes.


	18. Chapter 18 Royal Battle

Nox sat down onto the highest tower of the town. The battles were going by, increasing in their violence as the end drew near. She saw the Lamia Scale fall to the ground, Sting defeat Bacchus from the Quatro Puppy and slowly, the number of participating members decreased. Until Fairy Tail, Sabertooth and her were the only fighters left.

Both teams were evenly matched, which annoyed Sabertooth to no end. Nox was sensing their frustration grow with each passing attacks as, finally, she heard Sting's bell jingle.

"_you look sour from having to use it." She mocked him. He shot her a vicious look, and she skipped to his side.

"_naw... little stingy bee is sad..."

"_stingy bee? What's up with the nicknames, girlie?" Sting was surely not blushing. He didn't like her nicknames, and she knew that perfectly well. Otherwise, why would she use them?

"_anyway, why did you call me for?" oh, she knew perfectly well, she just wanted to hear him admit it.

"_I would like you to help us in defeating Fairy Tail." There, he had put his pride aside and said it. Nox smiled.

"_sure thing, handsome." Catcalls surrounded them. Nox looked at her surroundings, noticing she was in the amphitheatre. She shook her head before looking back to her boyfriend? To him.

"_do you want help in defeating them or do you plain want me to do it for you?"

"_just do it already!" Sting had reached his limits. She knew that and smirked, having won before raising her hand. All of their opponents got ready to defence, the memories of her torture still present in her mind.

"_immobilize." She wanted them conscious but unable to move for this beautiful final. Yes, she wanted them to understand why she did all this.

Nox turned to Sabertooth.

"_looks like it is down to you and me."

Orga opened the festivity. A rapid succession of spells was sent hurling her way, balls of energy she deflected. Sting tried a last attack, well aware that as soon as Nox would be the one to cast a spell, she would have won.

Nox saw the five mages take a break from the fight. They had opened the Time to her. She could now use it against them. Nox raised a hand.

All five mages looked at one another, worry encased in their faces, before casting their strongest spell in a unison raid. It shot toward Nox, who looked at it smiling at the power. It hit her full force, sending the sand of the arena flying into the air and trickling back down.

There wasn't any movement behind the sand in suspension in the air. Sting squinted his eyes, trying to see past it and to find his girl, when the dust started falling back down. The amphitheatre fell quiet, trying to hear a noise through the thick curtain.

"_Nox?" you could hear the worry in Minerva's voice. Their spell had been very strong. Far too strong for a human to stand through.

Yes, but she was not human.

* * *

Her silhouetted parted the sand storm, as she walked up to them. Her cloak had melted to her body, turning back into the Armour that inhabited it. The woman did not bear a scratch.

It was as if the spirit had donned a skin of metal. The protection shone under the pale light on the moon, reflecting the eerie of the moment. Behind her, the sand settled down as she took another step forward. The hood of her cloak then faded away to reveal her face, also clad in the Armour. Her hair flew in the breeze as she drew Vazeriel, her sword.

She could have been a Walkyrie.

"_Memory make: Souvenir!" a spell was sent rushing her way. She let it come as the amphitheatre took a trip inside her mind.

Her crazy, dark and broken mind.


	19. Chapter 19 The Decadence of Men

She stood in a bed huge, circular bed. The silken sheets were black, and she had donned a black nightgown that the sweat of her nightmare had clung to her body. Her hair was sprawled onto her pillow, black fading into black. Her eyes shot open under the violence of her night terror. The pupils were wide, and dilated. The black iris grew as the silver pupil shrunk to let in less light. The moon's shine was let in by the white silken curtains that shielded her private area from the gardens around. The silk was flying in the night breeze that swept sweat from her brow. Rezef stood up, her bare foot making contact with the white marble floor. She walked past the curtains and outside her room. The night sky was clear, and her head rose to the moon. She walked down the three stone steps that surrounded her private area and into the garden. The grass was wet under her feet, and she let her fingers trail onto the charnels petals of a black lily. The flower withered before coming back to life again.

"_another vision?" asked a voice behind her. She did not seem startled, as if she had know of the man's and the woman's presence behind her all this time.

"_the future." She replied.

A black haired woman stepped out of the shadows and placed a comforting hand on Rezef's shoulder.

"_maybe talking about it will help."

"_maybe, Summer. But this is my burden and I do not wish to lack in my duties."

"_you always give us the same answer, Rez. Always. And we feel powerless to help you. Talk to us, Rez. It doesn't have to be me. It could be Audra if you feel more comfortable with her or even Rose. But you have to tell someone of those visions."

The man that had spoken had sparkling blue eyes and white hair. He had a look of concern on his face and Rezef turned her face away from him. They stayed quiet for a moment before the girl she had called Summer turned on her hills and made to leave.

"_It's always the same dream." Started Rezef. "It opens to me two gates of time. The future past the Decadence of Men"

* * *

Both stared, wide eyed and frightened. She carried on. "In the first one, I am alone. The stone buildings have cracked and the gardens are withered. Tombstones have replaced the flowers that once blossomed as I approach the centre of what has become a cemetery. Four highly detailed tombs lay there. The first one is decorated with flowers springing to life, and sparrows. The second with a warm sun and poppies. The third dons wine grapes, fallen leaves and a storm cloud. The last has a snowflake and a dead tree."

Summer gasped.

"_you four have left me. In my vision, I put a single flower on each of them, taking away the one that withered within the night. As I walk away from the cemetery and back to my room, the only intact thing in the palace, I hear the sound of swords against one another. I do not need to look over the edge to see that the world below is torn by humans. Mages have long forgotten us, as dragons are being slain and gods imprisoned. The non-magical race of men is subdued by the few remaining mages who do not hesitate to abuse from their power. They have forgotten us. The earth is lamenting her children as suddenly, the moon and the sun meet in the sky, creating an explosion. Shards of ice and fire fly everywhere, as the human race slaughters one another. I can hear the cries of children, the pleas of mother to spare their sons. The world is crumbling into chaos. And I am left alone, in my realm. I have lost the will to fight against my true nature as I fade back into the fabric of Time."

There was a silence. Rezef had just predicted the results of the decadence of men.

"_and what about the other gate?" asks the male spirit, Jack Frost, as he drew his wife Summer closer to him.

"_in the other gate, I see a blond. A son of a dragon. His smile is dazzling, and his blue eyes sparkle with mirth. He is with me, sitting on my round bed. The realm of spirits has been opened to humans as mages have finally remembered us. The decadence of men has been brought to an end. I see you, Jack, holding a small raven-haired girl into your arms. She has your eyes. Summer comes into the room, her stomach round of another child. Next comes Audra. She has the most beautiful smile on her face as she walks in next to a blond again. Another son of a dragon, through his eyes are green and he masters lightening. Audra's smile widens when she notices your rounded stomach and the ring on her left hand shines furtively in the moon light. Next comes Rose. She is holding the hand of a handsome, ageless man. He has white hair and golden eyes, sign of his being a dragon. She mouths his name, Wess. Beside me, the blond dragon slayer with blue eyes stands up and goes to the corner of the room where his black haired twin, despite not sharing the same blood, is standing. Next to him is a beautiful mage with long flowing brown hair. She holds his hand and they appear happy together. This is the picture of bliss. But the gate sends me backward, into a less distant future as I am sitting at the entrance of a cave in the mountain. A black haired man, despite having some of his hair bleached white, is sitting next to me. His plum lipstick stains my lips as we share a loveless kiss.

"_did you feel it?"

"_no," he replies.

"_me neither." We stand there for a moment, staring into the distance when I say;

"_I guess you will remain my brother from then on?"

"_wouldn 't have it any other way."

He gives me a hug, before I wipe the colour away from my lips and walk back into the cave where a woman and a man are hugging, asleep. Another three people are resting. My vision carries on when I appear to be taking down a dark guild. I have a hood hiding my face, and I am alone. It does not take me long before a sword I have never seen to our present, but which feels so right into my hand has severed the last head of the guild. As I walk away, the building goes up in flames.

Wings on my back, I fly back at great speed to the cave from before. As I call out to my friend, they don't seem to be there and panic takes over. I turn and fade into the forest.

Next thing I know, I am standing in front of four tombs. I am clad in a fur-lined jacket that does not belong to me and as I turn around, the earth swallows the stone memorials. I have just buried five members of my family. Five great friends whom the world knew as the Oracion Seis. Five nakama. I have flashes of them. Us on a quest to destroy a dark relic. Us laughing around a campfire. Us dancing like there is no tomorrow. Angel and Cobra kissing as we throw petals all around them and Brain who is clad in a priest's attire Midnight and I had stolen the night before, finally says 'you can kiss the bride'. They were a light in the darkness. And the Light Team killed them.

I then see myself as a dragon, making ready to kill those who killed my family. As I cast a dragon roar, the first master of Fairy Tail appears and casts Fairy Sphere, trapping all of us for seven years into a death like sleep.

I then see myself hunting down more guilds, more relics as the burning hatred in my stomach never subsides. Until...

A few weeks after I have been freed the from fairy spell, I stumble across the two dragon slayers from my vision. From then on, my visions blur but there is always the bright smile and the blond hair. The blue eyes. And the scar."

* * *

Jack and Summer had almost forgotten to breathe during her story. Rezef shook them out of their trance when she fully faced them and said;

"_I see pain, anguish and hate if I don't do a thing. I also see them if I decide to react. But in the end, I see happiness and laughter. I see a family."

"_what are you going to do?" asked Jack.

She looked away.

"_rest and decide in the morning."

She vanished.

.

Her memories started again after what seemed to be a few days' gap. She had donned a black latex trouser that clung to her body, combat boots and a black tank top. As she pulled a worn fabric above her head, the door opened. A redheaded girl entered the room as the fabric suddenly turned silver and clung to her body.

"_so you are taking Venia, huh? What Summer and Jack said was true then."

Rezef nodded.

"_who is going to take care of the kingdom whilst you are away?" asked the fire-head again. She smiled slightly.

"_the members of the council of course! You, Summer, Rose and Jack, alongside with the Spirits of Arts, unless if you four don't need them. The council has always been made of the Spirits of Seasons, and you know that."

"_yes, but the Spirit of Time has always kept everyone in check and ruled over the kingdom. How are we going to do the right decisions without you?"

"_I have faith in you, Audra. I trust you." She placed a kiss upon the girl's forehead. "I have to go now. See you when the war is won."

"_the war? What war?!"

"_the one for the right to live."

.

Nox was now wearing a black cloak that covered her body. The symbol of Midnight Fear was already incrusted into her back when a man stopped her. She looked at him and he smiled.

"_sorry to interrupt. Can I talk to you for a second?"

.

"_so, you are saying that the council has given you a mission, to destroy all the darkness of the world, and that to do so you want to create a dark guild that would hunt down criminals and relics."

"_yes, that s it." The man seemed a bit uneasy at the way Nox had put the things, but a smile appeared on her face pretty quickly.

"_count me in. Who's with us?"

.

"_Nox, meet your new family. Everyone, this is Nox. Or Rezef from her true name. Be kind!"

A boy with lipstick came up to her.

"_hello, Stranger. My name is Midnight."

"_hello, Was-Stranger. Nice to meet you." She replied, not missing a beat. He laughed.

"_you and I are going to get along just fine."

.

"_hum... Nox? Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"_sup Cobra?"

"_how should I propose to Angel?"

She burst out laughing.

"_are you that scared?"

"_what if she says no?!"

"_she won't. Now, walk in there, get down on one knee and take the ring out of your pocket."

"_how did you..." she sent him a knowing smirk.

"_Angel put it in there."

.

There was a smelt of burn in the air. Nox could not take her eyes away from the charred corpse in the middle of the blown up trees.

Racer...

.

She had left the cave to go hunt for food. That was the reason she had given Angel. In fact, she had left the cave to give the woman the time to do what she had to do.

She gave her an hour. Clearly enough for, when she came back, her only girl friend was hanging from the ceiling, dead.

.

Nox slashed at the exposed flesh on her stomach.

One for Brain. One for Zero. Two for Midnight.

Blood was trickling down her stomach as crimson tears were rolling down her pale cheeks. Nox raised the blade once more.


	20. Chapter 20 So, It's Official?

The memory was abruptly cut as Rezef dealt Rufus a blow to the stomach.

"_sleep."

Orga and him fell into Morpheus' arms. She turned to the other three.

"_I like how you are trying to resist. Sleep."

Rogue fell on his knee, as Minerva winced. She put even more power into the next one;

"_sleep."

Three bodies hit the ground.

* * *

There was silence in the arena, as the people of Crocus tried to process all that had happened.

"_it seems that Nox, or should I say Rezef is the winner of the match. Midnight Fear is the winner of the Grand Magic games!"

The stadium burst into applause. Rezef nodded to the pumpkin man as the metal covering her head receded back to her neck. People could see the cut of her top under it, which oddly enough looked a lot like Sting's. The pumpkin man came down from his place with a sack of jewels and handed it over to Rezef.

"_nah," she said. "Give it to those who really need it. It's not like us spirits have the need for anything anyways..."

She turned away from a dumbfounded pumpkin man, and went back to the wounded. She bent over her unconscious friends, and her hands glowed once more.

"_heal." Minerva and Rogue opened their eyes, whilst Sting was still in deep slumber.

"_the order hit him harder than you, because I directed it mostly toward him." she told the other two awake. "Heal."

His arm twitched, as his eyes fluttered a bit before opening. She grabbed his arm, helping him sit up. He blinked a little, regaining his bearing before he noticed her next to him. She extended a hand toward him and he grabbed it, letting her pull him up. She stumbled a bit forward, their bodies closer than what should be comfortable. She gripped the fur lining of his jacket to steady herself before she crashed into him. She felt his two large, warm hands encircle her waist to help her steady. Sting then bent his face down to meet hers, before kissing her full on the lips in front of all Fiore.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed back.


	21. Chapter 21 Midnight Fear

"_before you make this decision, you must be aware that there is no going back. Once you are part of the guild, there is not quitting other than death. You must also be warned that any betrayal would result in the immediate death by poisoning of the betrayer."

Sting, Yukino, Rogue and Minerva were standing in front of her.

"_you must also know that those rules are not here to stop you from joining me, but to protect a very important secret. Finally, you must know before you receive the mark that Midnight Fear is not a guild. Are you willing to receive the stamp?"

All nodded, despite having been thrown off guard by the last warning. The mark appeared onto their bodies. White for Sting, black for Rogue. A rich purple for Minerva whilst a pale gold for Yukino. A blinding light forced their eyes shut as Rezef smiled slightly. Once it had receded, they opened them again.

Their eyes widened. Behind Rez were standing a multitude of people.

"_Midnight Fear is not a guild; it is the gate to the world of spirits."

* * *

There is a time for everything, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Today, Rezef thought. Today the time for being happy had finally come. And we deserved it.

.

.

.

**Hello everyone! I really wanted to thank "I am One with the Wind and Sky" for reviewing constantly and giving me epic tips. I also would like to thank the three people who favourited this story;**

**I am One with the Wind and Sky**

**AngelicShirahaNatsuki**

**nox umbra0**

**And this is the end! I am not sure I put a disclaimer so:**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Sting who belongs to Hiro Mashima, nor anything that is not my OC, Rezef and her epic sword Vazeriel. Jack Frost and Audra Tempest are not mine either. The Armour belongs to the French (amazing) author, Pierre Bottero. However, I do own the idea of a spirit world. Any resemblance to any existing material other than those mentioned is purely fortuity and not intentional. **

**And thank you again for taking the time to read my FanFiction. I hope you did like it and will maybe leave a review?**


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